White, flat and secretly caring
by Elit2
Summary: An AU fic where Accelerator is a girl/female accelerator with an eccentric family, a slightly troubled past and has been unable to become friends with people other than her sisters. After encountering different problems in the form of enemies, rivals and loss along with a new friend, she finds out that friends are not as bad as she thought.
1. Chapter 1

Author's note : Aloha! This is my first fic so please feel free to voice your thoughts and I will happily read through them in the comments section and try to address them at the end of the following chapter.

Story notes : Firstly, this is somewhat of an AU setting and I have a single OC, the main character. It may not appeal to those who are really into fics that stick to canon because some characters though they may have the name, may act a little different from the anime/light novel (OOC). I do try to keep them as close to their original character as possible and it may include some of my minor ships (Im sorry its not kamikoto though I really like it =D)

It is also a light hearted fic, kinda romancy like a lot of animes out there (yes I am a bit of an otaku. Some of my friends call me a weabo too) and I tried my best to put in some comedy though it may be a little clichéd and there are not gonna be any major antagonists of the sort. (edit there is some.. fighting and stuff. TANKS!)

And my OC is a guy [Kano Haimura. I got the name 'Kano' from a random name generator and 'Haimura' from the illustrator of the light novel (To Aru Majutsu no Index) and the main female one is female Accelerator! (Suzushina Yuriko 3)] I hope you like him because I couldn't really find a canon character that I like to ship with female accel. (I love male accel but I fell in love with some of the fanart of Yuriko. Look up her name on zerochan and you can see why.)

If you have endured reading through my A.N., thank you very much and I hope you enjoy the fic! =D

(there are elements from other animes especially Girls und Panzer but they wont be taking centre stage... most of the time.)

Chapter 1

Today started as normal as it could be. For me at least.

Walk to school, sleep through morning assembly hidden in a cupboard and emerge like a ghost to return to my seat before lessons began. However...

"Today we have a new student. She has come from Nagatenjouki Academy and will be staying with us for till the end of year exams" Sensei announced "You may come in and introduce yourself now!"

The was a chorus of 'huh?'s and 'what?"s. It seemed everyone was confused as to why there was a transfer student coming in the middle of the year.

In walked a thin white girl with a crutch.

Yes. White.

In addition to the school uniform which was a white shirt and a dark blue skirt for girls, her hair and skin were all white. But the most interesting thing was the color of her eyes - blood red.

"My name is Suzushina Yuriko..." She said deadpan as she looked at sensei hoping that her introduction was complete.

"Could you tell the class more about yourself? I'm sure they are very interested." Sensei desperately said as she tried to salvage her new student's horrible introduction.

"I'm not looking for any friends" she said once again in deadpan, destroying any of sensei's hopes of her opening up to the class.

"Ah well... Thank you for the introduction Yuri-" "Call me Suzushina please" The white girl interrupted sensei as she stared at a point in the wall at the back of the class. "Ahaha... Sorry, Thank you for the introduction Suzushina-san, now for your seat you can seat beside... Err... Ah yes, there at the back with Kano-san."

As she hobbled towards my seat, she stared at me with her red eyes, I admit I was rather intimidated by her brutally shutting down our friendly sensei's attempts at conversation but I held my gaze, staring right back at her.

The class watched our silent exchange in curiousity. Even sensei was intrigued by this development...

Until some idiot behind me decided to shout "Hey! Love at first sight?! What's this? Some kind of drama?!"

"KAMIJOU TOUMA!" A girl screamed as she lugged a dictionary which hit him square in the face, knocking him to the ground.

Her name was Fukiyose Seiri. The Iron Wall Girl. The one whose breasts are as large as melons.

As Yuriko nodded at her in thanks, I noticed her eyes slightly widen in shock as she saw Fukiyose's massive rack. Sitting down on her seat, it seemed like Yuriko glanced down at her relatively flat chest. Though I may have been mistaken.

This is going to be an exciting day after all... I thought to myself.

Just when I thought I could be a silent spectator enjoying himself with an interesting show about a new student and a prying class while sitting beside the said student who was actually quite pretty...

"And now that we are done with introductions, we need a volunteer who is willing to help Suzushina-san around the school and act as a guide to help integrate her into the community. Any volunteers?" Sensei said as her voice got more and more quiet as she spoke seeing that everyone was avoiding eye contact with her.

"Hey Kano-san, raise your hand! It's something about helping out with Band!" Tsuchimikado shouted across the class, knowing that I would believe him as I was not paying attention to sensei's request.

I raised my hand.

The class started laughing hysterically.

I blinked. I blinked again. And at that moment when I saw Yuriko's slight smirk, I knew for sure. I screwed up.

And that is how I ended up being a guide for the new girl.

"Ugh... Why do I have to do this..."

"You were the idiot who raised your hand. Some friends you have"

I shot a quick glare at the person who released that snarky comment.

"Heh... Don't glare at me. Glare at them who were laughing their asses off."

I shot a long glare at the two jokers that I had for friends.

Luckily for me, they knew that as a sign that I was at my limit and they ran off quickly.

"Since I have the job I mind as well do it well... What do you want to do first Yuri- Suzushina-san? Wanna get something to eat or?" I asked half-heartedly as I started walking towards the canteen, not giving her time to choose.

"I'm fine with that but I'm not really hungry..."

"Then a drink?"

"Coffee?"

"Sure."

And thus, we drank 14 cups of coffee. In 30 minutes. No big deal.

We walked back to class in silence. Yuriko in a seemingly good mood as she seemed more open while I trudged back suffering from over intake of coffee.

"How... Do you drink so much in one go..."

"You just drank 4 cups. I had 10. Stop whining. Go take a piss if you need to."

I glared at her and leant back on my chair to stretch, forgetting that Yuriko was sitting beside me.

"Where the hell do you think you are putting you hand?" I heard an extremely annoyed voice mutter.

I turned around and realised that my hand that I was stretching was crossing over Yuriko's chest. Almost touching her if not for the fact that she essentially had the body shape of a skinny young boy.

"Oh shit! Sorry sorry. I haven't had anyone sit beside me for a few years so I kinda forgot that you were there"

She looked at me with disappointed eyes. "And less than 3 minutes ago you were complaining to me about drinking too much coffee? Isn't that a bit hypocri-"

"Ooooh just a 30 minute recess break and you two are bickering like lov-" Tsuchimikado could not finish the sentence as he was sent flying across a nearby table by a crutch.

"Annoying…" Yuriko muttered. She must have incredible arm strength.

"ow…"

I looked at him rubbing his cheek. A thick red line was starting to show.

"You kinda deserved it you know?"

He laughed and reached over to grab his sunglasses which had been dislodged by Yuriko's attack.

"Okay class. End of break. Seat down at your places. Lessons start now."

"God... This is torture... Ugh..." She slammed her head on the table again.

"Deal with it... Welcome to A Certain high school. Only Tsukuyomi sensei can teach well. The rest are mostly like this..."

"All of them? This horrible?"

"Yeah… Maybe except for that one P.E. teacher. She is rather eccentric."

She glanced at me and raised an eyebrow.

Then I got an idea to get closer to this new student. As I said before, she IS rather attractive.

"... Wanna go somewhere to hide? I know a place."

"Sure" she said as she smiled for the first time… Cute.

"Okay. Follow my lead… Sensei! Yuriko here needs to go to the toilet."

"Oh the new student. Hi there, do you know where the toilets are?"

"No."

"... That was rather blunt... Okay Kano-san I heard from Tsukuyomi sensei that your her guide for the week so guide her to the toilets will you?"

"Sure."

As we walked out of class I noticed four things.

Tsuchimikado snikered.

Kamijou Touma started laughing.

Fukiyose Seiri knew what we were planning and facepalmed... Well pretty much the entire class knew.

Sensei was as dense as a rock. As usual.

I grinned and gave them a thumbs up from behind sensei's back.

And that's how we escaped physics class.

"We're here!"

"This is your secret hiding place?"

"Yeap!"

Yuriko looked around

"Doesn't look so secret to me"

We were in an area behind the school gym. It was an open area but was concealed from sight from most areas.

"But it works! I've been escaping lessons and have been coming here for two years and have never been caught!"

"Well this is gonna be your first time if you continue shouting." She taunted, smirking.

Then, I did the most retarded thing possible just to get back at her.

"Well, you do look kinda attractive when you smile though"

"W-what?"

"And you're blushing?! AHAHHA! I DIDNT THINK THAT YOU COULD!"

I was promptly smacked on the head with a cane.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

I woke up to a panicked whisper.

"Huh? What's goin-ARH! MY HEAD!"

This is one terrible headache.

"SHHHHH"

Even in the groggy state my mind was in, I could feel something clamp my mouth shut.

After a few more seconds of silence, the clamp moved away from my mouth.

"A sensei was walking by" she explained.

By that time, I was fully awake and noticed several things.

One, I was lying on her lap.

Two, she was wiping her hand furiously on the grass.

No doubt she used it to clamp my mouth shut.

And three, she was glaring at me.

"Erm, if you don't mind could you tell me what's going on?"

"Before I tell you that could you remove your head from my lap?"

"Oh err yeah... Haha" I got up immediately and apologized repeatedly. Which was reciprocated with a "Meh. It was my fault for whacking you hard enough to get you to faint... And you can stop now."

"Oh that's good... But why was my head on your lap?"

"... Do you want me to make you faint again and leave you here?"

"Oh shit! No! No! I'm sorry... Can you stop glaring at me?"

"For the love of - are you seriously asking me to hit you?!"

"OK OK I'll stop..." I sweatdropped. "Oh yeah I'll help you up."

I pulled her up and noted that she was extremely light.

"Oh yeah. What's the time now?"

"Hmm..." She looked at her wristwatch, "it's one fifteen"

"WHAT?! I WAS OUT FOR THIRTY MINUTES?!"

"Yes. You were out cold for quite a while."

How was she so calm?!

"Oh God... They are gonna think we were getting along too well..."

"We kind of are though... As much as I hate to admit it..."

"Heh. Tsundere"

I got whacked again but not hard enough to faint from.

Good enough for me.

"Ooooohh they're baaaaack!"

The two idiots exploded with laughter.

My headache grew worse.

"Where have the two of you been? You're lucky sensei forgot about the both of you and left the moment class ended. Lesson ended fifteen ago." Fukiyose asked, demanded and notified us of what happened

"So... You guys had sex ye-OW"

"TOUMA!"

"Fine..."

Shaking my head at the stupidity of my friends, Yuriko and I went to grab our bags from our seats.

"So where are we going for lunch?" I asked them, completely ignoring the situation.

"Probably Fukiyose-chaaaaan's house cos it's the nearest and she has a stockpile of instant noodles" Tsuchimikado replied and sent a flying kiss towards an annoyed but defeated looking Fukiyose.

"Hey Suzushina-san, wanna join us?"

"Nope, I got somewhere to be." She said as she quickly walked... Well, hobbled out of the class.

"So she just left us?"

"I guess so... Wanna shout bye?"

"Yeap."

And the four idiots of the class shouted at the retreating form of the new student.

~~~~~Suzushina Yuriko~~~~~~

Finally some peace..." I said to myself and sat on a secluded bench in the park beside my house.

I never liked having friends... Too many expectations. I used to have friends, lots of them.

But ever since the accident, my thinking capabilities were slower and my memory became worse.

In a top school where brains were extremely important, I kind of lost everything...

Anyway, no more thinking about the past.

"Hmm... Today was interesting. No one cared much about the fact that I was from a top school.

Plus that Kano guy was kinda nice... Even though he was annoying...

What the hell? Why am I thinking of a guy I just met today... Plus, why did I follow him... Didn't you learn from Amata?"

I shook my head to get rid of the bad memory.

My vision suddenly turned dark.

"ONEE-CHAN! Are you thinking of a guy?!"

"Huh? Mikoto?!"

My ripped off the hands covering my eyes.

"WHAT ALL FOUR OF YOU!?"

I stared at disbelief at my four sisters.

The twins were wearing identical middle school uniforms, nothing unusual... But... My older sister and my youngest were... Something was off about them.

"Heheheh Yuri. Thinking of a guy enough to talk about him out loud?" Worst taunted.

"True." "It seems that she may be infatuated with a boy" "she just met on the first day of school..." "Disappointing..." Mikoto started and Misaka finished. Those two twins were creepy when they spoke in relay

"Onee-chan... Are you gonna leave us for a guy? Last Order questions in fear of you leaving us." Last Order said as if she was about to cry.

I ran over to comfort her. Well not each RAN but you get the idea. "No no no, I would never leave you. And Mikoto, Misaka," I nodded at each of them respectively "I am not infatuated and there is nothing for you to be disappointed in."

I couldn't be bothered with arguing with Worst. She earned that nickname for a reason.

She smirked at me and folded her arms, pushing up and exposing her breasts... Which I was kind of envious of.

And then it hit me.

I finally realized what was weird.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU WEARING WORST?! AND LAST ORDER!"

"Hmm? This is just a slightly small sized ao dai to show off my assets... Ahahahahah" she started laughing. "You're JEALOUS AREN'T YOU AHAAHAHAH"

"WHAT NO!" I screamed

"Last Order wanted to show you what my new elementary school uniform looks like as she runs up to onee-chan and hugs her!" Last Order ran up to me and tackled me to the ground in a hug. "Do you like it?"

"Yes, yes its nice. Ugh... I give up... Can you help me get up now? I want to take a bath... I feel filthy... Especially my thighs." I thought to myself, 'After i rested that idiot's head when I thought he was seriously injured' I added under my breath.

"Hmm? What was that?" Mikoto asked.

"Nothing, nothing. Let's go home."

I think Misaka caught it though. She is unbelievably sharp.

She looked at me and nodded while she continued to pet her cat, Dog.

Yeah. She caught it. *sigh*

"We're home! Last Order exclaims as she runs to the kitchen!" She said as she ran to the kitchen.

"Last Order, I thought you said you would try to fix that third person speech pattern of yours. And Misaka, didn't you say you would help her since you had the same problem when you were young?" Mom said to us deadpan.

It took a while for me to be able to identify whether she was asking a question or not, since she always talked that way.

I walked into the bathroom before I could hear my sisters reply.

'This family can be annoying... But what would I do without them.' I thought and smiled to myself.

As I was halfway through setting up the bath, Mikoto came in and helped me with washing up.

I hated relying on my little sisters for help.

For Heaven's sakes I'm the second oldest but I rely on my younger twins, Mikoto and Misaka for most of the things I do.

"There you are. Call if you need help okay?" Mikoto smiled and left.

"Thanks"

I lay down in the tub, enjoying the warm water.

But still, I rather be the cripple I am now than let Last Order get hit by that damn drunk driver.

~~~~~~~Kano Haimura~~~~~~~

"She's a handful"

"That's all you can say about her?"  
"Really? That's how little your relationship has developed?"  
"I expected more from you Kano-dono"

"I JUST MET HER TODAY!"

We were now in Fukiyose's house having instant noodles and conned drinks for lunch.

Her mom was out, but it wasn't like she'd mind when we came over. Touma and Fukiyose were friends since they were five and they started dating last year.

Tsuchimikado and I met them middle school and we've been friends ever since.

"Yeah and we all remember how you liked that one girl you met in middle school the first time you saw her and liked her for five consecutive years until she went to a different highschool, leaving you depressed for a year." They said in unison.

*sigh* "Please don't bring that up..." I rubbed my face and tried to think about how I could describe Yuriko. "Well, she seems kind of anti-social. I wouldn't be surprised if she forgot me the moment my job as her guide ends."

"Even with that huge bruise on your head that suddenly appeared after you two disappeared?" Fukiyose questioned sarcastically.

"Heheheh... Well... No comment."

"Better than nothing eh Tsuchi" "Yeah... Let's hope she gets him to feel happy again." "He WAS kinda lucky that she trusted him enough to follow him." "It's just his charms heheheh"

"What are you two whispering about."

"Kano... Chill man." Tsuchimikado laughed and waved it off.

"Yeah... OW THAT SOUP IS HOT FUKIYOSE. AND WHY ME?"

"Because Touma-kun, after being your childhood friend and girlfriend for one, I know glint that in your eyes means that you are planning something to annoy Kano-san here with."

"... True..."

I watched them bicker and finished my noodles

And as I waited for them to finish their meal, I thought to myself and smiled again.

Yuriko was rather pretty wasn't she.

Plus, I like them small.

MarkJ: Thanks for reviewing ! Thanks for the constructive criticism! And to explain my problem with Touma, I intend to make him the normal highschool student that he wanted to be in the books but couldnt so he is gonna be much more casual and be making more jokes. He will however become his usual determined self when it comes to saving or in this story, helping people. =) As for Yuriko, that blush is a one time thing because... well she has had some probs in school in the past and its the first time in a long time someone has complimented her.

YES i know i sound like i am making excuses but please don't give up one me =)

Oh yeah and Worst is 19, Yuriko is 16, Mikoto is mikoto who is twins with MISAKA 10032 who i decided to name Suzushina Misaka both of them are 14... sounds so weird now... oh well. And Last Order is about... 7? If you have suggestions for Worst and Last Orders real names that would be a great help =D

And guess who is mom XD

A.N. I feel that my chapters are rather short since each is about 1.5k words. My current goal is about 6k per chapter =) wish me luck


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

~~~~~~~Yuriko~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Onee-chaaan! Can we get the new electromaster lock picking set for Christmas this year? Last Order asks as she tugs on your jacket." Last Order asked and pulled on my jacket sleeve

"Oh oh if she's getting that can I get the arcade coin collection?" "And I would like the toy soldier gun replica..." Mikoto and Misaka said as they joined in with Last Order.

"Worst... A little help?" I said as the three of them tugged on my jacket in various places.

"Ahhahahaha! That's your problem Yuri! I'll be going off with Kinuhata and Umidori in a bit. I'll get you guys presents though! Heheheh."

"I really dislike that aura you're giving off... Don't you dare get a cockroach for Mikoto this year. I don't want her to have nightmares for the next three weeks like last year."

"Ahahahahah Yuri you know me so well." She mocked up wiping off a tear and turned around to continue walking to the mall.

Some random guy called out from the opposite street.

"OI YOU! LOOK OUT!"

"Hmm?" I turned around and saw a car skid across the semi-frozen road towards her "LAST ORDER!"

I started running towards her.

"Onee-chan?" She had a confused look on her face as she tore her eyes away from the snowflake she was looking at and turned towards me.

Then she turned around and noticed the car speeding towards her.

I jumped and caught her, using my momentum to push both of us out of the way.

But my legs got hit by the car.

I guess my head hit the floor pretty hard too.

Everything was white.

On my left I could vaguely see Worst beating up a man

Probably the driver of the car that hit me.

Heh. She's a good sister.

Hmm... I'm quite a distance from the car... I guess I flew quite a bit.

Something warm was trickling down from my forehead across my face… Some of it flowed into lips. Oh its blood.

"Onee... K?... alled... lance" One of the twins said to me. I couldn't tell which one though... their shapes were blurry.

After a few seconds, or minutes, or hours, Some people in uniforms came to pick me.

By that time my vision was starting to return to normal and my hearing started to work properly.

As well as my sense of pain. Apparently, I broke my legs.

Well... You can guess what happened.

So I was put into the ambulance screaming and writhing in pain as they put me under and drove to the hospital.

* * *

"So... You're telling me I can't move my left leg below the knee at all?"

"Yeah pretty much"

I liked this doctor. He knew what sarcasm was.

"So I'm basically a cripple."

"Yeap. But a hero as well."

"This is gonna be annoying."

"I can tell. I notified your family of this 'unexpected' development already. Your sisters were pretty 'calm' too."

See, he knows sarcasm.

He help me set the bed into a seating position and fixed my posture to allow me some comfort.

"Do you want me to let your family in?"

"Sure, sure. But please tell my little sisters not to pounce on me."

"Of course." He smirked and left me.

10 seconds later, all hell broke loose.

"Yuriko are you okay?" "ONEE-CHAAAN!" "Took them long enough to allow visitors" "Heheheh you look even worse than when Amata-kuuun left you last year"

I facepalmed at the varied reactions of my family.

One could even call us dysfunctional with five girls, and parents that acted like they were still dating instead of being mature pillars of responsibility.

"Yeah I'm fine and don't jump on me Last Order, and Worst, don't bring that up."

"Heheheh but it was funny"

"To you maybe... Just like how you got rejected by-"

She clamped my mouth shut.

"SHHHH"

"AHHAHAH IS THAT PANIC ON YOU FACE?!"

"Okay Yuriko, Reiko, stop fighting. How's your leg? Does it hurt or anything?" My father finally intervened after receiving several silent cues and a physical kick to the shin from mom to get him to shut Worst up.

"Nope. I can't feel a thing"

"... I don't know if I should see that as a good thing or a bad thing"

A nurse poked her head into the room.

"Mr Suzushina Shiage? Do you mind coming down to information desk?"

"Sure, mom and I will be right back okay, you sisters will keep you company. We should be back in about half an hour." My dad reassured me and left the room.

Now I'm alone with my sisters

Worst smiled.

Last Order beamed.

Mikoto facepalmed.

Misaka sighed and sat on the sofa.

This is gonna be a long half an hour.

* * *

I smiled as I relived the memory. It was a year since then and despite some difficulty, I had managed to adapt to life.

Now, I was walking down the halls in the hospital with my parents to repair my crutch which was dented in several areas.

"How the hell did you dent the crutch Yuriko? That thing looks like it's going to break anytime."

I shrugged. I have no idea how to explain.

"Shiage. Stop it."

My mom was cold towards everyone except Last Order when she was serious. Well... She had a good reason to be serious though. I broke my 50000¥ custom made crutch afterall.

When we reached the doctor's office, the door opened by itself and out came the same sarcastic doctor that helped me with my operation.

"Oh hey Suzushina-san. Wanna grab lunch? I was just leaving. Oh wow... You broke that custom crutch? AHAHAH THAT THING WAS SUPPOSED TO BE ABLE TO SUPPORT UP TO 500KG!" He machinegunned all that in a grand total of 3 seconds.

My dad started laughing at how nonchalant the doctor was while my mother narrowed her eyes.

The doctor noticed and harrumphed. "So ah… you want a replacement?"

"No shit Sherlock."

I grinned at him.

He grinned at me.

And so, we had lunch, bought a new crutch and returned home.

I managed to skip school too! NICE!

* * *

"We're home!"

Huh. Last Order didn't run over. Someone else must be here.

"Onee-chan come join us! Aunt Shizuri and Fremea-san are here! She exclaims" she exclaimed.

Ah Fremea was here. She and Last Order were best friends.

"Ah Shizuri-san!" The adults left us to go catch up.

I walked into Last Order's room.

"Hey Last Order, where's Worst and the twins?" I looked around, noticing a lack of that annoying sister of mine.

"She's out with her friends and Mikoto is in school for extra lessons. I think Misaka is out playing with Dog, Last Order notifies onee-chan as she continues to play cards with Fremea-san"

"She needs extra lessons?" Mikoto was pretty good at all her subjects.

"She skipped enough lessons to warrant her extra lessons even though she already aced all her subjects." Mom said from behind me as she grabbed a packet of body crystal.

She ate those sweets like they were drugs.

"Fascinating… Hey Fremea, why are you so quiet today?"

She looked up at me and pointed at her throat.

"Fremea has a sore throat. Kazari explains for Fremea."

Fremea nodded and waved her white Rhinoceros Beetle toy at me.

"Oh okay. I'm gonna take a nap. See you guys later."

"Bye onee-chan! Last Order says as she waves to you." She said while she and Fremea waved good-bye.

I flopped onto my bed. I looked at the bunk bed opposite me and noticed Worst's bed was covered with her underwear as usual and Mikoto's had stuffed toys all around.

Smiling to myself I welcomed unconsciousness and entered the world of dreams.

~~~~~~~~~Kano Haimura~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Its Wednesday.

It's been a day since I last saw Yuriko.

Touma had been joking that she transferred again after we shouted good-bye at her on Monday.

Well, he's gonna be disappointed.

"Hey Suzushina-san you didn't come to school yesterday. Are you okay?"

Fukiyose was being a good class representative as usual.

"Yeah I'm fine. I had to go to the hospital to repair my crutch yesterday."

Yuriko looked at my horrified face and smirked.

"WHAT?! YOU HIT ME HARD ENOUGH TO DAMAGE YOUR CRUTCH?!"

After lessons,

"Suzushina-saaaaan wanna join us for recess?"

"Hmm? No. "

"HAH rejected again Tsuchi!"

"Sorry about those two idiots," Fukiyose apologized to Yuriko "but still, could you come with us for recess? Kano-san usually joins us."

"Then he can join you."

Then I had an idea.

"Hey Suzushina-san, you will attract more attention if you sit on your own you know?"

She tilted her head and sighed.

"Fine."

This is awkward.

"This is awkward." I looked around me, "why is everyone looking at us like animals in an enclosure?"

Three answers immediately popped up.

"Maybe because we're sitting with the new transfer student who has white hair?"

"Or maybe we're sitting with a girl other than Fukiyose-san for the first time in three years?"

"Most likely because you helped her into her seat like a princess."

Yuriko who was sitting beside me ignored the world and continued to drink her coffee.

"This is seriously the quietest recess I've ever had. We're the only ones talking. And we're the ones being watched. Even the senseis are on edge."

"Enough with the paranoia. Just finish your food quickly and we can go to our usual place."

I looked at my plate. It was half finished.

The other three sitting on my table had cleaned their plates. And Yuriko was sipping on her forth cup of coffee.

I sighed.

"Fine."

* * *

Yuriko had abandoned us on the way here. Something along the lines of 'too many stairs'.

"Ahhhh this is refreshing!"

We had come to the roof of the school where we normally hung out during recess or breaks.

"Hey Tsuchi. Lets go try beat Fukiyose in wrestling. I learnt this new tactic last night."

"You two got frisky last night?"

"Nahhh I just found out she can't handle being tickled behind the neck."

"Nice! Let's go!"

I sighed as I watched them go attack Fukiyose. I already knew the outcome so I decided to ask Yuriko about whether she liked this school.

I turned to walk back to class.

Imagine my surprise when I noticed her staring at me from the stairway.

~~~~~~Yuriko~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Oh shit he noticed me?

Well, Yuriko that's what you get when you stare at someone when you are too nervous to ask that person your question.

"Err... why are you standing there? You could have come along with us ya'know? And I was meaning to ask you if you like the school so far."

Huh? I expected him to ask me why I was staring at him.

"Well, the way you described the roof made me curious so I came up. It's nice." I took a deep breath. "Classes are really boring though… Sensei is always going too slow."

"Hmm? What was that last part? You kinda mumbled that."

"Ah erm."

I didn't want to look like I was showing off.

"Well at least you like the school. Why did you transfer in at such a weird time though? You came from Nagatenjouki Academy right? This school is kinda shit compared to that school. If you don't wanna tell me it's fine."

Well I wasn't about to tell him but the reason was that a lot of people had picked on me after I became a cripple and Worst had to come to my school to pick me up to scare off any annoying pricks that tried to pick on me.

It's carried on for a few months before I gave up and applied for transfer here.

"No comment."

By now he had returned to sitting position on the floor, leaning back on his arms and with his legs stretched out. He grinned at Touma, Tsuchimikado and Fukiyose.

They seemed to be 'wrestling'. The two boys were completely outclassed by Fukiyose though.

I wonder if she would be able to beat Worst. That girl was a sadistic monster when it came to fights.

I looked at Kano-san. Waiting for his reply.

"I should have expected that. Ah well, I'm not going to press you for answers. I AM your guide for the week so if you have any problems be sure to tell me." He tilted his head and seemed to consider something. "And even if the week has ended, you are welcome to join us." He looked at me and smiled.

I was taken aback by his answer. That was completely unexpected.

In my old school, you had to prove yourself to be a genius to be accepted by the community. Let alone ask people for help.

"Yeah... If you don't mind."

"Of course I don't mind. You can ask Fukiyose too if you find talking to a girl to be better. She's really reliable."

I smiled inwardly. Though in reality, I just raised my eyebrows.

He had this aura that made him seem trustworthy.

Just then, I realized I only knew his surname.

"Hey Kano-san. What's your name? I haven't heard it."

"Hmm? It's Haimura. Same as the guy that did the illustrations for the novel series 'To Aru Majutsu no Index'."

He liked that book too? Nice.

This guy is definitely interesting.

~~~~~~~Kano Haimura~~~~~~~

"Finally class is over." I stretched. "Hey Suzushina-san, do you wanna join us at my house? It's mine turn to supply food for these three pigs." I gestured towards my friends who were being reprimanded by Tsukuyomi sensei for disrupting the lesson.

She looked like she was considering something.

"No. I got somewhere to be."

"Go ahead." I smiled.

She stood up and walked to the door.

She seemed to regret her choice of words since she turned to me and said "Thanks for the offer though." Just before she left the class.

She was opening up towards me. Not much but still, it was progress. I was happy about this development.

When I first saw her in class, I noticed her eyes were just like me when the girl I liked for 5 years left me - they were dead. It was like they lacked the shine that people like Touma, Tsuchi and Fukiyose had that made them look alive.

It was a sign of loneliness.

I guess that's what's driving me to get to know her better.

Oh. Sensei is done scolding them. Time for lunch.

A.N. thanks MarkJ for reviewing again. I had considered the idea you gave me before but trashed it cos i thought it may be too boring but since you have raised it i thought; hey, lets give it a try! So yeah! youve been a great help.

To all the other readers, thanks for reading and i hope you enjoyed. Next chapter may contain some stuff from another anime but its not gonna be a cross-over... more like they will pop up a few times in the story but they will just be supporting characters. This story is still gonna stay 70% To Aru.

Thanks again for reading !


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4  
"Hi Suzu-chan!"

"... What do you want?"

"That's cold..."

Tsuchimikado butted in to help Touma with his greeting.

"He means that he wants to be friends with you!"

"What the..."

Yuriko looked past them and locked eyes with mine. I could literally hear an imaginary Yuriko calling for help.

Hue.

"Its your problem!" I called out without hesitation, "you deal with them yourself!"

I smugly snuggled up in my seat, resuming my nap.

Less than five seconds later...

"So... My guide had decided to ditch me while two disturbing boys ganged up on me."

That tone brought chills down my spine...

I looked at her furious red eyes.

"Heheheheh... I'm screwed aren't I?"

Surprisingly, it wasn't Yuriko who answered me.

It was Touma.

"Nahhh you'll live." He put a finger in his chin. "Barely."

"How are you... So strong..."

I clutched my head and stomach after being assaulted by Yuriko.

"Shh. Lesson."

I heard Touma chuckling behind me but an audible hit from Fukiyose silenced him.

I looked down at my test paper. I managed a 25/75 for Science.

Yuriko's amused voice shook me out of my daze. "You're pretty bad at that subject aren't you?"

"Yeah. But I am better at my others."

-_-_-5 mins later-_-_-_-

"So, where's the subject you're good at?"

I slammed my face in my desk.

I had failed every subject except for music.

But then I had only managed a 56/100.

The lunch bell rang.

"Weeee we're freeeee!" Tsuchimikado ran over to Touma's seat.

As the four of us, Touma, Fukiyose, Tsuchimikado and I started to leave, I noticed Yuriko looked a bit lost.

"Hmm? Suzushina-san. Lessons are over. You can go home now."

"I know." She glared at me, "Sensei told me yesterday that I should go check out the clubs since Tuesdays and Thursdays are club days."

"Oh..." I turned to the three who were waiting for me. "You guys go on ahead. I'll call you guys later."

"What? You're gonna help her?"

"Well... I am her guide after all."

"Sure sure, BYE!" Fukiyose pushed Touma and Tsuchi away before they could say anything stupid.

"So... Since I'm your guide I'll bring you around..."

"I really didn't want to ask you for help you know?"

"I can tell." I laughed "but it's my job."

* * *

I sighed.

"Well, we have gone past most of the clubs already. You didn't like any of them?"

"Half of them were sports and the rest were boring. Why is there a TEA club but no coffee club?!"

"Erm... Well, yeah you have a point... The only few left are... Dance, Concert Band, Senshadou, Cooking and I think the motor club. I haven't seen them around lately."

"Senshadou huh... Worst likes that."

"Hmm? Worst?"

"Oh. She's my sister."

"And her name is... Worst."

"Nah. It's just a nickname. Her real name is Reina. But we call her Worst because... Well... She's the worst."

"'We' as in your family?"

"Mmhmm."

We reached the room for the Senshadou club.

"We're coming in!"

"Ooh new visitors! Hihi!"

A girl with long red hair tied into two long pony tails that I identified as the student council chairman... Chairwoman? greeted me.

"WE ARE HAVING A MEETING! DON'T JUST BUTT IN LIKE THAT!"

"Ah Umidori-san, just let them in."

"But we were having a meeting..."

"Well... The first school we are up against is Ooarai High. Their new commander brought them from a no-name school to the national champions within a year. We are gonna lose no matter how much we plan. What do we have? Five tanks?"

"Yeah..."

Yuriko tugged on my sleeve.

"I don't like it here. Too lively."

I sweatdropped.

"Okay then..."

_-_-_5mins of arguing later_-_-_

"Eh? The visitors are gone?! See what you did Umidori-san?! You just chased away a potential new member... She looked strong too..."

In the end, Yuriko decided to join the concert band since she had a surprising knack for playing the flute.

* * *

"Okay... So you blow in here... And... WHAT?!"

Yuriko had managed to play a perfect note on her first try.

"Hmm? Was it wrong?"

"Err... No... You just managed to play it perfectly on your first try... Ah! Do you want to try playing a song?"

She then had managed to learn the fingering for the instrument and could identify notes within half an hour.

The power of a Nagatenjouki Academy student.

Seemingly ecstatic by her acoomplishment, Yuriko had decided to join the Band.

* * *

Now, I was walking in silence with Yuriko to the train station since we both had to get on the train to go home.

"What club are you in?"

"Hmm? Me?"

"Who else is here?"

She seemed to be in a good mood.

"I'm not in any."

"... It's possible to get away with that?"

"Well..." I didn't want to give her a bad impression of me, "I got kicked out of my club-"

"So you're just a delinquent?"

She saw right through my attempt to put myself in a better light.

I sighed. "Yeah..." I nervously put my hand on my neck.

She's gonna try to stay away from me now I guess. No more chances to get to know her.

She was interesting after all.

"That's fine by me."

Huh?

"What?"

"I'm fine with you being a delinquent."

This was unexpected.

"Why'd you say that?"

She ignored me. Guess I wasn't going to get anything out of her then.

We continued to walk in silence.

When we reached the station, we missed the first train since we couldn't run.

Well, Yuriko couldn't run. I didn't want to be mean to her and leave her alone.

"Why'd you miss the train?"

"Well, you can't run can you."

"Why did you wait for me then."

"I dunno too to be honest. Hehe. I just did what I'd normally do when I was with my friends."

She looked down at her legs.

After a few minute, the next train arrived and we got on without incident.

This... Is new. Normally, my train rides would be noisy and there would be people staring at me in annoyance.

Today, with Yuriko it was quiet.

I could get used to this. I smiled and leaned back.

Yuriko was getting off the next stop. But as she left the train,

"Thanks for today, Kano."

No honorifics? That was cute.

"Nah it's fine. Bye!"

"Mmm... Bye..."

Heheheh I found a new side to her. I better not bring it up tomorrow or I'll get whacked again.

The door closed and the train started moving.

"Aloha Kano-kun."

What? Only one person called me that.

I turned to the person who had plopped down beside my seat.

She wore the uniform of Keizoku Girls.

She had longish black hair in bangs and tied the rest in a braided pony-tail.

Misaki Uomi.

The girl who had got close to me and then left me by cutting off all contact without a word.

My face stiffened.

"Why the hell are you here?"

"Hmm? I just happened to see my close frie-"

"We are not friends," I interrupted her. "Not anymore."

"Why?"

She looked at me with those half lidded eyes that always worked to charm me.

Not this time though. My heart was hardened enough.

I narrowed my eyes.

"Well, for one, I loved you with all my heart and you knew that you were the only family I had!" my voice was raising.

'Calm down!' A voice in my head shouted.

I am not gonna listen to you.

"And? You left me without a word, leaving no trace of yourself, and you still dare to come and say that we are close friends?!"

I was standing in front of her now.

There were not many people on the train now, but every single one of them was staring at me.

Not that I cared now.

As for Uomi...

"Heheheheh. It affected you that much? Plus, it was two years ago. I'd thought you'd get over it by now since I saw you with albino just now. You two looked pretty cute you know? New girlfriend?"

The train had reached my station. Uomi had to get off on the one after mine.

"I'm leaving."

I turned to walk away. All semblance of my earlier good mood forgotten.

"Bye! Kano-kun."

My eye twitched at that name.

I didn't bother responding.

I walked mindlessly to my home, and when I reached it, I walked around the estate in circles.

I reached the park nearby my home.

"AARGGHHHH! WHY DID SHE HAVE TO COME BACK!"

I clutched my head and sank to the ground in a fetal position.

"Why does she still have a hold on me?" I whispered "why..."

I looked around at the park.

Everything in the area contained a memory of her.

From the seat under the rain tree, where we had our first lunch together,to the pond where Fukiyose, Touma, Tsuchi, Uomi and I would play at when we were in Middle School.

"Kano-san." I turned.

I saw Touma in exercise clothes.

"What happened?"

I raised an eyebrow.

"I was out on a jog. Fukiyose didn't want to join me." He looked at the ground and saw my tear stains. "Wanna talk about it?"

"Mm."

I stood up and started walking away like a zombie.

"Hey! Kano! What's wrong?!"

I ignored him.

"If you aren't gonna get a hold of yourself..." He ran up to me with his fist clenched.

It connected with my jaw.

I fell to the ground and lay there, tears flowing from my eyes.

Touma helped me up and set me on a nearby bench.

"I hope that woke you u-"

I jabbed him in his stomach with my elbow.

"Yeap. Haha. You're better now. Wanna talk properly now?"

"So she came back huh."

I nodded.

"And acted like nothing happened."

I nodded again.

"That's kinda... Rude."

I glared at him.

"heheh maybe a little worse that."

I continued to glare.

"Okay, okay, it was horrible of her."

I smiled thinly and leaned back on the bench.

"Well... I can't say I know how u feel man. But if you want to know what really happened, you have to hear her side of the story."

"She... Was her usual self... And I wasn't bothered that much by her reappearing... Yes I was angry with her suddenly coming to me and acting like everything was fine and dandy.

But the thing that annoyed me was that I still had feelings for her."

"Heheheh now you understand why we said you were as loyal as a do-OW."

I stood up.

"It's eleven now."

"Yeah... And you didn't have to hit me that hard."

"You deserved it. But thanks for the talk..."

I started jogging back home.

Heh. Touma is a really nice guy when he's not being an idiot.

~~~~~~ Kamijou Touma~~~~~~

I watched as Kano disappeared when he passed a corner.

Why did Uomi come back all of a sudden though.

Didn't she go to Keizoku Girls?

I heard from Fukiyose saying that she left because of the Senshadou club there...

Oh...

Senshadou...

The government's propaganda for women.

It's said that if you join, you will become a proper lady.

Maybe she wanted to go for Kano?

But that can't be it.

If she did it for him wouldn't she have told him something? Or even left a small note?

She really did break his heart...

As for boys (and some girls who appeal), it was the esper programme... Not that it gave you powers but increased your mental and physical capabilities... If one wanted to join a school with that programme, they would have to move to Academy City.

And it goes without saying that there were rumors of some lucky people getting some minor power.

And one rumor in particular about one guy called a Level 5.

Ah well. Enough rambling. I better get home quick. Fukiyose would be waiting for my nightly call at eleven thirty.

Though she would never admit she was waiting hehe.

But still... This Uomi problem is... *sigh* I hope it doesn't affect Kano too much tomorrow.

He was just getting better.

_-_-The next day-_-_

Fukiyose nudged me on the arm.

"Hey... Isn't Kano really out of it today? Even Suzushina-san seems affected by him. Look! She's moving away from him!"

"SHHHH. Your not whispering you know?!"

"Touma, Fukiyose, could you please stop whispering sweet nothings to each other in the middle of class?!" Sensei shouted from the other end of the field. "Unless you want to do fifty laps around the school!"

We huddled down to avoid her gaze... That big breasted teacher who always wore that track suit was a part time teacher...

And a full time Anti-skill member...

Anti-skill was something like the police, but they were almost as well armed as the army.

The terror of having her as a teacher…

"Hey Touma, isn't Kano-dono a bit put of it today?" Tsuchimikado just brought my death sentence to me.

"OI TOUMA! TSUCHIMIKADO! FIFTY LAPS NOW!"

"But sensei..."

"NOW!"

"It's no point fighting Yomikawa sensei. Just run."

I sighed and looked at Kano.

He still looked like a scarecrow.

I gave Tsuchi the finger and we started running... Good thing we were scolded so often we could do twenty laps without breaking sweat.

Fukiyose could do forty...

She did have the forward momentum from those melons of hers though. Heheheheh

* * *

"So what happened to Kano-san?"

Fukiyose and I were walking home alone. Which was rather uncommon because Tsuchimikado and Kano would be with us 90% of the time.

Tsuchimikado had extra lessons with Tsukuyomi sensei. And Kano had gone home straight away.

"He didn't even talk to Suzushina-san today."

"Well..."

I told her what happened yesterday.

"What?! Really?! She came back?!"

"Yeah."

"Hmm..." Fukiyose thought hard. She looked really cute when she did that. "Wanna go to her old house to see if she's there?"

"Nah. No point questioning her. It's Kano's problem. He's gotta solve it on his own if he wants to recover."

"True... But it's weird not having our pillar of responsibility with us. It's not easy for me to control both you and Tsuchi at the same time you know?"

I rubbed my neck. "Heheheh sorry."

"Never mind... Is that gluttonous sister of yours still at home?"

"Hm? Index? Please don't call her that... Though I can't deny it..."

"Mmhmm. I wanted to try cooking something today. I'll let her taste test it."

"Nice! She'll be happy about that... But my cousins may be home now..."

"Hmm? Stiyl and Innocentius?"

"No no, it's Kanzaki, Itsuwa and Tatemiya. They called last week saying they may drop by."

Fukiyose shuddered.

"Those two girls have a thing for you don't they..."

"I don't know about that... But I'm not into incest if you're worried."

I smiled warmly at her to reassure her.

She visibly and audibly sighed in relief? Disappointment? I'm not sure what it was.

"Okay! Let's go!"

She pulled me by the hand.

This was nice. To be led around by her like when we were in elementary school.

But still, I hope Kano gets a hold of himself soon.

~~~~~~~Yuriko (at the start of Friday)~~~~~~~~~~~~

Today was awkward...

Kano-san didn't even look at me. It's like he was in another world or something.

I glanced at him from the corner of my eye.

He was still sulking with his head on the table and his eyes half closed.

The bell rang.

The other three left the class without even calling him… I guess they knew what happened.

"Hey… Kano…"

"Hm?"

"Whats wrong with you?"

He closed his eyes.

"I don't really wanna talk about it…"

"Fine."

I stood up to leave the class. He didn't even budge. I was already getting used to him talking to me…

A voice in my head called out : 'Yuriko… are you… disappointed he didn't talk to you?'

I shook my head furiously.

I could NOT afford to let what happened in my old school happen again.

No friends.

No one could be trusted…

And he didn't say anything when he left…

"Hey Fukiyose-chaan, is Kano-dono wtill sulking about that Uomi thing?"

Tsuchimikado was loud. I could hear him from outside the class.

"I guess so… I want to help him but I don't know what to do…" "We just gotta let him deal with it on his own." Touma and Fukiyose replied.

"Ah… Okay then… I got some lessons with Tsukuyomi sensei. See ya tomorrow!"

Was he always that aloof? I thought he was more caring than that.

I left the class and started walking to the train station.

Touma and Fukiyose were visible from the station. They were talking about something while walking over a bridge.

I missed doing that with friends.

I remembered when I was so desperate for them that I dyed my hair brown to look normal like my sisters.

But that was before the accident.

I still had to thank the guy that warned me before the car hit. If he didn't, Last Order would have been hit by that car instead of me.

According to my sisters, he had longish black hair that covered one eye and was wearing a hoodie and jeans.

Such 'distinctive' traits.

I had missed the first train while I was busy watching Touma and Fukiyose. I shook my head in disappointment with myself and sat on a bench.

Then I saw Kano walking towards me from a nearby dagashi store, holding two sticks of ice-cream.

He plopped down beside me.

His bad mood was gone?

"Hey… Sorry about today. I was pretty down about something… I wasn't a good guide for the week wasn't I?"

Ha?

"I wasn't really bothered by it…" I whispered, "you were a pretty good guide too."

"Really? Thank god!" He seemed pretty pleased with himself.

Suddenly, he jolted up. "Oh yeah! Ice-cream. This is for you. Take it before it melts."

For me? What kind of trick is this.

"Well… this is kind of a welcome to school present I wanted to give you on Monday but hadn't had the chance too… and an apology for being kinda cold to you today."

"… You shouldn't apologize to me. Apologize to your friends, they were pretty spooked by your behavior today. And as I said, I wasn't bothered by your behavior. And thanks for the ice-cream."

I licked it happily, smiling as I went, previous promises to myself that I would not show my child-like side to anyone other than my sisters temporarily forgotten.

"Hehe Suzushina-chan, you look really cute when you do that."

Then I remembered I was with someone.

SHIT!

"Err… I uh… I JUST REALLY LIKE ICE-CREAM!"

I looked away. Almost blushing.

Blushing with annoyance I mean… That wasn't supposed to happen!

"Hehe… its fine. I won't let anyone know about that." He looked up to the ceiling. "I hope we can be friends."

I turned back to look at him, blush gone.

What the hell did he just say?!

"I'm not really looking for a reply but I wouldn't mind an answer… even if it's a no."

My eyes narrowed.

"Why did you suddenly say that?"

He looked embarrassed.

"Well, I just like your company and-"

"No."

"Hah?"

"I overheard Tsuchimikado in class. You're having emotional problems. I don't want to associate myself with someone who is using me as an alternative." I stood to walk towards the arriving train. "Get over your problems and maybe I'll talk to you. But until then, I don't want to have anything to do with you."

He was still seated and looked down at his feet.

Even as the train left, he didn't even move.

I sat on the seat for disabled people.

The old me would have been sympathetic and agreed to be his friend in a heartbeat.

The old Yuriko would be friends with him by now.

But after what happened in my old school, I was hesitant to make friends. Especially close ones like that bastard Amata. You never knew when they would turn backstab you.

A.N. Hihi Its me again! I added Senshadou as a club in my AU-verse since I fell in love with the GuP series again after watching the movie on Monday. And for Yuriko joining the band, look up some of her pics on zerochan and picture holding a flute or a violin as I'm a music student and in a concert band of my own as a percussionist, the image or Yuriko playing an instrument is really appealing so please understand =D

And don't worry if you are here just for the To Aru verse. Yes, some characters from GuP may popup and the topic of senshadou will appear once again, but they will be more of cameos than being full fledged characters.

Just watch the anime (girls und panzer).

MarkJ : Thanks for your support and opinions. I hope you like this chapter too =) I am trying to utilize your advice. And i am currently reading those fics you recomended me.

And to all viewers, thanks for coming in and reading! Every time I come in and see that this story gets a few more views it really makes my day. THANK YOU EVERYONE

though i wouldnt mind a few more contructive reviews. i feel like i have improved some from just MarkJ helping me. imagine if there were a few more kind souls =)

I just edited this chapter because some of my line breaks did not appear in the story when i published this chapter hehe. Thanks MarkJ for bring it up =)


	5. Chapter 5

A.N. Hihi, if you were confused by the last chapter, I don't blame you because my line breaks "_-_-" didn't show up and i didnt know that there was a line break function in the document editor... the problems of being a newbie hehe. so if you were confused, you can go back and re-read it if you want to hehe. If there are still no line breaks, please notify me because in my preview, the lines are there. And i forgot to put this in in the other chapter, Uomi and Grandpa are my OCs. only Uomi will be important though so yeah.

Chapter 5  
I walked home in a horrible, horrible mood.

What was I doing?!

I can't believe I tried to use Yuriko as a replacement for Uomi... No wonder she looked to pissed for me doing that... How am I supposed to make it up to her?

I slapped myself mentally and unlocked my home door.

"I'm home!"

No one answered. Same as always. If someone actually answered me, I would be shocked to death.

My home was pretty small, with two bedrooms and a living room that was combined with the kitchen.(and a toilet. I hope you didn't think I don't have a toilet.)

One if the rooms was for sleeping while the other had been converted into a music room.

I took off my shoes and walked over to where grandpa's rocking chair still stood.

Unmoving. Never moving.

There was still that cup of water that waited for someone to drink from sitting on the coffee table within reach of the chair.

I hadn't been close to my parents because they died when I was young.

Luckily, they were rather rich.

I was left with almost a million in savings when I was six.

At the time, my only close relative was my grandfather... Who was also rather rich.

Huh. I'm really lucky aren't I?

Despite having a large house, he came down, sold his house, sold my house, and bought this tiny apartment so that we could last using our savings till I could start working.

I was really close to him... He was the one who taught me to be frugal and maximise what I had afterall.

Then he died when I was twelve. And my friends became my family.

Particularly Uomi.

I sighed.

I looked at his rocking chair again.

It never looked this... Inviting before...

Hesitantly, I walked up to it.

The most I had ever done was to clean it or replace the cup of water when it got dusty. I regarded it as some kind of memorial of him.

I sat on it for the first time.

There was an odd feeling in my gut. And my adrenaline was pumping. As if I was a young boy again and had touched some forbidden idol.

But at the same time, I felt abnormally calm.

Within minutes, I had fallen asleep.

****woooo spooooky dreaaaam**** (A.N. im sorry but i couldnt help but make this spooky dream joke. my sis encouraged it)

Everything was black.

The sound of heavy footsteps on a marble floor resonated loudly. A voice called out from behind me.

"Hey Kiddo."

Huh? Gramps? I did a full 180 immediately.

He stood and smiled like he always did, the sides of his eyes wrinkling, and with his hands behind his back.

"Yeap. It's me. How are ya doin?"

He was as casual as normal too.

"I'm... Fine..."

I forced a smile, I didn't want him to be worried for me.

He shook his head and smiled again. This time, it looked sadder.

"Ya know. It's not good to hide things from me."

I looked at him nervously.

"Well..." I started, "You know... After you left,"

"Mmhmm?"

"Uomi left us."

"Uomi...? Oh that pretty little thing."

"Yeah. She was the person closest to me and she left without a word!"

I was on the brink of tears again

"She most likely had a reason though..."

I glared at him.

He chuckled.

"Plus, I know that it's better to find things out for yourself rather than coming up with your own answers."

He smiled for the last time.

"Okay, toodles!"

Huh?

****end of spooooky dreaaaam****

What the hell was that?

That was a little too vivid to just be a random dream... And I was starting to forget what happened.

I looked at the clock.

It was five-forty eight. I was out for two hours?

Huh. Impressive.

I got off the chair and the doorbell rang.

"Coming!"

Quickly, I washed my face and jogged to the door.

Uomi was there.

I almost slammed the door in her face by impulse.

But a few words resounded in my head.

'It's better to find things out for yourself rather than coming up with your own answers'

"Aloha Kano-kun. How are you?"

I controlled my tone to not sound like I wanted to kill her.

"I'm fine... Why are you here?"

"I called Tsuchimikado-kun to ask why you were so hostile to me the other day...

Actually he called me but screw details.

He said I had disappeared without a word."

"Yes. You did."

"You didn't get my message?"

Hah? That was unexpected.

"Message?"

She looked surprised.

"I had left a note in your room the day before I left. My parents wanted to enroll me in Keizoku Girls because of the Senshadou programme there."

That explained a lot.

"But why didn't you tell me yourself?"

"It was more romantic that way wasn't it... Even though it failed miserably."

I facepalmed. She was always this aloof.

"But why are you suddenly back?"

"To see my extended family."

Then, I remembered, I had left the window open the day before she left and the rain had come in, ruining all the papers left on my table. Including a small special looking paper that I had dismissed as nothing.

At that moment, I felt like a weight was lifted off my chest. Everything was clear again. All those problems were caused by me, myself and I. Uomi was innocent.

'Now, wouldn't it be easier IF YOU ASKED HER CALMLY THE OTHER TIME?!' A voice in my head shouted at me and mentally slapped me.

"Anyways, I don't think I will be able to be your girlfriend again. I'll be leaving soon and you have a new girl don't you." She winked at me and started walking backwards.

Hah? Girl? Girlfriend?

She noticed my perplexed expression.

"That white girl isn't your girlfriend?"

White? Oh Yuriko?

"Hah? No no no! I was just her guide for the past week... Because she is a transfer student. I think she would have forgotten me by now."

~~~~~~~~Yuriko~~~~~~~~~~~

"Onee-chan! Why are you sneezing uncontrollablly Last Order asks while she looks at you suspiciously while you are teaching her how to write Kanji properly." Last Order shouted at me.

God... Damn... Is someone seriously talking about me?!

*SNEEZE*

~~~~~~~~Kano~~~~~~~~~~~

Uomi looked up at the ceiling, "she was rather pretty though... Even if she was as flat as a board."

~~~~~~~Yuriko~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Onee-chan... Do you need to see a doctor? Your sneezing is getting worse."

"It's... *sneeze* fine, Mikoto." *sneeze*

Why do I have this nagging feeling that someone is talking about my bust size.

~~~~~~~~~~Kano~~~~~~~~~

"Heh... She isn't my girlfriend."

"But you want her to be?" She smirked.

"Hah?"

"Hmm... She looked nice. But really sad." Her phone rang. "Hello?.. Yeah?.. Oh okay..."

She looked at me. "I'm sorry Kano-kun, I have to go..." She looked really disappointed. "I know I should have told you in person, and that I had caused you a lot of trouble for not telling you I was leaving..."

I was surprised she told me this. But I was also happy that she hadn't changed from the young and klutzy girl who would apologize profusely every time she messed up.

"I'll be having a sensha match soon. I hope we can meet again. Bye!"

I smiled at her. For the first time in two years, I was truly happy without guilt and hidden anger. I had finally learnt the truth about her.

Thanks Grandpa.

"Bye! And sorry for not asking you properly and jumping to conclusions!"

She smiled for the last time, giving me as peace sign and running off.

I turned and closed the door. Rushing to Grandpa's rocking chair and changing the water to a fresh cup of coffee.

'Thanks Gramps. You helped a lot'

My phone buzzed.

'Hi hi Kano-kun. I know this is late but I hope we can be friends again.

~Uomi'

I smiled.

'Sure' I texted back.

* * *

Monday. The day I dreaded most. But I had a good feeling for today.

Uomi had left Tokyo yesterday and was on her way back to Osaka.

"Kano! You're okay again!"

Touma was running to me.

"Hehe yeah." I rubbed my neck.

"That's great! I never thought YOU would be the one to add us in a WhatsApp group with Uomi."

I smiled.

Fukiyose and Tsuchimikado were walking from the train station, they waved from a the distance.

I started to wave too but then I felt eyes staring at my back. I turned and...

Yuriko was looking at me, smirking.

Heh. Today would be a great day after all.

"Your problems are gone?"

"Mmhmm!"

I smiled and nodded while still staring at Tsukuyomi sensei.

"That's good."

"So... Will you be friends with me?"

"Hmm," she raised an eyebrow. "Maybe."

"What kind of answer is that?!"

"It's me taking it to consideration. I've only known you for what? A week?"

"Yeah..."

Better than nothing I supposed.

* * *

"Damn..."

"Yeah..."

Yuriko and I were on the train on the way home.

Tsuchi, Fukiyose and Touma lived close enough to school that they were within walking distance.

"How am I supposed to walk home now?!"

There was a typhoon going on now.

"Well... It IS the first of September."

She responded by slamming her head on the window.

"I'm gonna be stranded in the station for hours."

"Can't you call your family to pick you up?"

"We don't have a car. And there's no reception."

An idea hit me.

* * *

I got off on the same station as her.

"Huh? Why are you here? Are you stalking me?" She accused me and seemed to prepare her crutch to hit me.

"No! No! I just thought I'd help you get back home. Since you can't walk back in this weather."

She looked down and seemed to mumble something under her breath. Most likely hate speech.

She looked at me with determination in her eyes.

"I do NOT need your help."

* * *

Fifteen minutes later...

"It just got worse." I grinned and looked at her.

She was looking more pissed off than usual.

Well, she had a good reason to be.

"I don't think this rain will stop till tomorrow. Are you sure someone will come and pick you?"

She nodded and shook her head at the same time.

"I'm sure Worst or someone will come."

* * *

Thirty minutes later...

I was enjoying a hot cup of cup noodles. My third one to be exact.

"You want some?"

Yuriko glared at me. Though it seemed that she was quickly losing her stubborn belief that someone would come.

"F-fine."

"You want some? I'll go buy another for you."

* * *

An hour later...

I must admit, I am impressed with her determination to wait. A normal person would be begging for help by now.

Yuriko had already eaten two cups of cup noodles and had seven cups of coffee to stave off the cold. I had also lent her my uniform blazer to use as a blanket.

Then She came.

A lone silhouette in the heavy downpour.

She wore a futuristic suit that seemed to be made of a water-proof material since every drop of water that hit it bounced off. Instead of a hood, the suit had a helmet that looked like an angular, opaque goldfish bowl.

"What the hell are you wearing, Worst..." Yuriko mumbled as she stared at the figure.

The person, identified as Worst by Yuriko had reached the train station.

She took off her helmet and revealed a face with straight, shoulder length brown hair, dark circles under her eyes and a grin that looked more fitting on a Great White shark than a human.

"Ooooh Yuriko. That's the guy you were talking about that day?" Her grin became larger.

"HELL NO! HE'S JUST STUCK IN THE RAIN TOO!" She turned to me and whispered frantically, "don't you say a thing."

"Heheheheh okay then" Worst seemed to accept Yuriko's answer and purposefully misinterpreting it.

She then directed a question at me, "So, you got anyone coming for you?"

"Err yeah, my mom's coming in a car." I lied quickly.

Yuriko sensed the lie and raised an eyebrow. "Anyway, bye Kano-san."

That fast if a goodbye? Oh well.

"Yeah. Bye!" I waved.

Yuriko then turned and started walking off with Worst who  
passed her another one of those futuristic raincoats.

I have got to ask her where they bought that raincoat. It looked so cool.

Ah well, time to go home.

~~~~~~~~Yuriko~~~~~~~~~~~

"Huehue do you like this new coat?"

I looked at the helmet skeptically.

"This looks kind of ridiculous. Where'd you get it?"

"Special order from Academy City! It costs 17000¥!"

I coughed.

"WHAT?!"

"It's fine, it's fine, the money came from my job. Since I'm still living at home, I don't really need savings yet an-" "And you bought how many of these suits?" I interrupted her.

"Three sets" she said smugly.

I facepalmed.

Good thing Kano is back to normal. He was pretty much the only normal person I knew.

"Hey, hey Yuri. Stop smiling to yourself while thinking of that guy. Heheheheh."

My face turned hot and I smacked Worst with my crutch, and in the process, lost my balance and fell on her.

"Hehehehehheheheh"

*sigh*

* * *

[This happened slightly after Kano met Uomi on the train.]

~~~~~Misaki Uomi~~~~~~~~~~

I watched Kano-kun storm off the train.

Why was he so angry?

I thought he was playing a prank on me by acting like I left without telling him but it didn't seem that way...

The train reached my station.

I guess I'll call Touma or Fukiyose...

"This number is currently not available."

"This number is currently not available."

"Ughhh did everyone really change their numbers?!"

I tried calling Kano himself.

"This number is currently not available."

=_=#

I looked at the last person on the list. Tsuchimikado.

Suddenly, my own phone started ringing.

Tsuchimikado was calling me.

I picked up the call.

"Hihi! How about you turn around nyaaaa."

* * *

A.N HIIII thanks for reading! Ive reached about 200+ views, you have no idea how happy I am (i have really low standards dont i?) Anyways, as usual i hope you enjoy the story and please rate and review if you liked it or disliked it. Constructive criticism is treasured and flames will be extinguished.

A few more reviews/likes/follows would leave me jumping over the moon. XD

Im not forcing you doe hehe.

If the Uomi thingy seemed a bit rushed, its semi intentional because number 1, Its supposed to be a short arc, 2, I suck at writing emotional scenes and am trying to improve.

MarkJ: thanks as usual for being a consistent reviewer. I really appreciate you coming in and giving me some quick advice or ideas for my writing 3 I tried putting more of an effort into pacing though I kinda failed XD

The ending is also cut off like that intentionally because i dont really want to dictate how it would play out since the conclusion has already been reached and i wanted to keep the Tsuchimikado working in secretive ways thing that goes on in the books... he still hasnt reappeared after kumokawa shot him with that fake bullet =,=

If you endured through my long A.N, 3. Thanks

this chapter was rather short wasnt it == im disappointed with myself too

P.S. Im currently drawing a cover image on paper and it will be taken with my phone (AHAHAAHAH I DUNNO HOW TO DRAW WITH PHOTOSHOP) XD


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6  
"Kano-saaan!"

Eh? Who would call me out in the middle of the corridor?

"Ah..." I turned to see who was calling me, it was a red haired girl with two long ponytails wearing her school blazer like a cape over her normal uniform. "Err... You are... The student council president? How do you know me?"

Stopping in front of me, she put her hands on her hips and glared at me.

"I've been president for a year and you still don't know me?! And I'm here because Tsuchimikado-kun said I should go to you."

I raised an eyebrow.

"Come to me for?"

She scratched her head, seemingly embarrassed.

"Well, our school has consistently been losing in Senshadou tournaments and almost no one wants to join and no one wants to watch our matches."

"And?"

"Could you help us sell some tickets? We are going to win a few matches this year and we want to attract attention."

"Well..."

I saw A Certain foreign student who had multiple rumors going about he and the student council president liking each other and refusing to admit it to each other.

An idea struck me like a shot from a StuG III

Grinning, I called out. "Etzali-san! Musujime-san here needs help!"

He turned and his brown face lit up when he saw the girl in front of me who had turned as red as a cooked lobster.

Heheheh. Worth.

"Don't worry Musujime-san, I'll buy two tickets from you!"

I winked and ran off, not giving her time to respond.

Tsuchi would be proud.

* * *

"AHAHAHAHHA YOU DID WHAT?!"

We were in the canteen, since it was raining and we couldn't go to the roof.

Tsuchi and Touma were laughing till tears came from their eyes.

Fukiyose was trying, and failing mind you, to conceal her amusement.

"Heheheh. If that fails to get them together I will have to resort to more desperate measures. And good job Kano-dono!"

"Thanks Tsuchi."

The bell rang for the second time. Lessons would start in 1 minute.

The next class had Fiamma sensei...

We ran like we were being chased by a demon.

* * *

"Aw c'mon!"

Lessons were over. And the rain was just starting to get worse.

Yuriko looked relieved. Well, she had band practice today and had something to do instead of being stranded in school like I was.

For the first time, I was kind of envious of those people who were in clubs... Basically everyone else.

Touma and Fukiyose were in the tea club... Though they almost always skipped it.

Tsuchimikado was apparantly in an outside group called GROUP. According to him, they were a company that got things that normal shops could never get you.

Not that he didn't try to escape the moment we brought up the topic.

I guess I'll poke my nose into the band room and see if they had anything for me to do.

I had nothing to do anyway.

A gust of warm air from the music room hit me. This is rather nice, I'll see if the percussion section has extra parts.

I knew Arisa-chan would welcome me since we were in the same music class.

* * *

"Hey, Kano-kun, can you play the piano for us?"

Hah? What is this?

Apparently I'm pretty popular among the music lovers in the school.

A group of girls and a few guys were harassing me.

Yuriko stood behind them covering her mouth in an attempt not to laugh.

Such misfortune.

Eh. I better not start saying that.

It took Touma a few years to stop that habit. But he only effectively stopped saying it when. Fukiyose's cousin Othinus had used a so called 'timeless' method of shooting a couple of ballista shots to test if he was mature enough to be worthy of Fukiyose.

We were at the home of Fukiyose's cousins in the countryside, which was known for its huge rolling hills, covered with grass and the occasional tree.

He felt so unfortunate that he had to have a collector of ancient weapons to be his future extended family that he dropped the habit of complaining about his misfortune.

Heheheh it still made me laugh whenever I remembered watching him desperately dodge those giant arrows of doom at Othinus's house in the countryside.

All of us and our close family : Touma's sister Index, Fukiyose, her sisters; Seria and Maria, the Birdway sisters, whom we used to be close friends with in middle school, Tsuchimikado and his brother that his family disowned because he decided to have his hair blue instead of blonde and Touma's parents were invited there for a holiday. And now, we watching Touma go through his initiation of manhood with Othinus and Thor, her brother, aiming the ballista and Marian, their sister, as the loader.

He had to run from the bottom of a hill and punch the lights out of Thor to be considered man enough to date Seiri.

They had given us a demo of the ballista's amazing power; a single shot had severed a tree in half.

His parents watched in horror as we cheered for Touma as he jumped over some of those massive arrows, ducked under some others and at the end, used a large branch to deflect one that was about to hit his head.

I smiled at the memory of Othinus, Thor and Marian bowing in respect to him as their foster father, Ollerus, watched from his perch on the roof of their home.

And then, I remembered there were people talking to me.

"Err... Kano-dono, are you there?"

A hand waved in front of my face.

"Hahahah, yeah I'm here."

I took a step backwards, "but I'm not here to play the piano."

My classmate Meigo Arisa appeared from the band storage room, carrying a drumset with her friend Shutaura Sequenzia. "Then why are you here, Kano?"

"Hehe. I was bored and was wondering if percussion had any extra parts that I could fill in."

"Oh. You are just stranded because of the storm aren't you?" Shutaura said deadpan as Arisa went back to the room to grab something else.

"Heh. You nailed it."

"Okay then, you can fill in the drumset part for 'AKB48'. We are sight-reading that piece today." Arisa nonchalantly said as she reappeared from the band room holding a suspended cymbal this time.

I stared at her in disbelief.

"SERIOUSLY?!"

"Mmhmm. Since you're filling in, you can go and get scolded for us since we aren't great at playing the drumset and we are still sight-reading."

I glared at her.

"You are better than all these juniors who have zero music background aren't you?" She winked.

* * *

"You didn't do as bad as I thought you would, Kano."

"Hehe thanks Suzushina-san."

The storm had died down and there was a light drizzle going on now.

Train services had resumed and we were waiting for the next train.

"I didn't think you'd nail that part. Shutaura still hasn't nailed the drum fill even though the band had three practices in advance."

"What..."

"Yeah. When I joined last week they were already learning the song."

"So Arisa-chan was lying about them sight-reading?"

"No shit."

I put my face in my hands. "UGHHHH AND I PANICKED FOR NOTHING?!"

"Heh. It was fun watching you frantically reading the score."

I glanced at her from the corner of my eye. "You had time to watch me?"

"Mmhmm. I memorised my score already."

What... In one week?!

"You are amazing..." I whispered to myself.

"What was that?" She looked slightly pissed now. Maybe she thought I was insulting her?

"Ah no no, I was thinking to myself that you are unbelievably good. Memorising the AKB score in a week is an achievement for someone who just started learning music last week."

"Ah well," her face turned slightly pink and she fought to get rid of her hair that a sudden gust of wind had pushed to her face. "I try."

A comfortable silence came between us.

I remembered I had an extra bun that I had saved during recess today and rummaged through my bag to look for it.

Little did we know...

~~~~~~~~Mikoto~~~~~~~~~~

Ugh... I hate rain. Staring out of the train window, I grimaced.

I wish I could come with Kuroko or Ruiko or Kazari. They would have made this trip more exciting.

At least I would be with Onee-chan on the return trip.

I stood and waited in front of the train doors as the train ground to a halt and the doors opened, allowing a gust if the cold air and more than a few drops of rain to smack my face.

Onee-chan will take a while to get here I guess... I don't want to miss her on the way there.

Walking to a nearby bench, I noticed a couple sitting on it, their backs facing me.

Ew... I hope they don't start showing any PDA, I can't stand thaaa...EHHHHH?!

My face turned tomato red.

Is that... White... Hair?!

Only one person in this whole area had hair THAT white. And she was sitting next to a guy with short black hair with the same uniform as her.

I stood there in shock for a few seconds, not knowing what to do.

Then I whipped out my trusty Gekota phone and snapped a few pictures.

~~~~~~~~Yuriko~~~~~~~~~~~

Why do I have this nagging feeling someone is watching me...

The train sped towards the station, causing a few nearby crows to get frightened and fly past our bench.

"So when you practice, be sure to be car-EH!"

One of the crows managed to grab Kano's half eaten bun that he was holding haphazardly as he spoke about something related to music.

Well, if I had just met him, I would have just coldly scolded him for being careless.

I should have done that.

Instead, I giggled.

Yes.

Giggled.

Like a middle school girl.

*mental slap to myself*

~~~~~~~~Mikoto~~~~~~~~~~

Did... Onee-chan... Just giggle?! GIGGLE?!

Lucky I got it on camera... Not as good as a video but as they say, a picture tells a thousand words.

They're getting on the train now...

I ran into a neighboring cabin to avoid getting noticed... Worst will have a field day with these. Hehe.

~~~~~~~~Worst~~~~~~~~~~~

Paste this here... Nail... Err... Drill in here... Should I use a pan or a sign? Hmm... the sign looks better.

*zzzzzBOOOOM*

"WHAT WAS THAT?!"

"Mm? My ringtone."

"Worst! Please don't put such weird noises as ringtones! When you plug your phone into the sound system at maximum volume! What was that this time?!"

"A railgun shot. Heheh. Were you scared? Dad?"

"Hmph."

Heheheheh.

I picked up my phone.

Mikoto? Sent me five pictures...?

The caption read 'Enjoy. Do NOT credit me.'

AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHA!

~~~~~~~~~Yuriko~~~~~~~~~~

*sneeze*

"Are you alright Suzushina-san?"

"Hai. Must just be a little dust."

I saw a flash of brown hair and a rather familiar flower hairpin flash past from the corner of my eye.

Must be nothing.

~~~~~~~~~Mikoto~~~~~~~~~

Oh. My. God.

That was close.

Thanks be to God for hiding me.

If onee-chan saw me, I have no doubt that a crutch would take flight with the initial velocity of a railgun.

~~~~~~~~Kano~~~~~~~~~~~

"We have arrived at the next station"

"Ah... Bye Suzushina-san!"

"Mm. Bye."

She gave me a nod and a frown before leaving.

Heheheh I got to see her giggle.

I guess she is more normal than I thought.

That's good ain't it?

~~~~~~~~Worst~~~~~~~~~~~

"Laaaaaast Orderrrrr! Take a look at this picture!"

"Hmm? What does Worst want Manami wonders aloud as she runs to her... EHHHHH?!"

~~~~~~~~~Yuriko~~~~~~~~~~

"I'm home!"

Hmm? Silence? Shouldn't Last Order be home?

Said girl poked her head out from behind the wall.

"Onee-chaaaaaaaan"

Eh? What is this malicious intent coming from her? She shouldn't be physically capable of this!

"Ah Last Order?" I was starting to sweat.

"Onee-chan... You... EXPLAIN THIS! MANAMI SHOUTS AS SHE SHOWS YOU A PHOTO!"

"Wha... Eh? Wait... WHAT?!"

It was a picture of a girl with white hair, covering her mouth with one hand... giggling... God I hate that word... While looking at a boy flailing his arms in annoyance after a crow stole a bun from his hand.

How do I know? Rhetorical questions FTW.

"EH... Ah... Uhhh..." I was a loss for words.

Then I noticed Mikoto creeping in through the door, her wet shoes making a squishing sound, giving away her position.

"So... Mikoto, you were out?"

"Hehehehe." She scratched her head.

"There's only one way Worst could have gotten those pictures."

A tense atmosphere permeated the room.

"Heheheh sorry..." She cringed, thinking that I was about to lob my crutch at her.

"Never mind... I'm sick of being angry..." I walked over to the toilet. "I just wanna take a bath."

Worst's face went into panic mode but I ignored it.

I stepped into the toilet as she screamed "STOP!"

GUH!

A sign swung out from inside, smacking me in the face.

Now I know why she panicked.

I held my bruised nose that was starting to bleed and took a good look at the sign.

It was the sign for a one way road. She probably took it from the small road downstairs.

I saw red.

"WOOORRRRRSSSSSTT!"

"Oh shit."

~~~~~~~~Kano~~~~~~~~~~~

The next day...

There was now a booth at the foot of the main staircase.

Now, you might say 'A booth? So what? Those are found anywhere.' Right?

Wrong.

Well, this booth was special. It was crowded with students and, instead of just a table and a couple of students sitting behind it, there was a tank.

Yes. An honest to god tank.

A Panzer 5 Panther to be exact.

And Musujime Awaki-san, student council president and overall in charge of the Senshadou club, was having a field day.

"Hey! Musujime-san! How's sales?"

"Amazing! I never thought of using one of our tanks as an advertising tool because I thought everyone knew what one looked like!"

"So Etzali-san was a great help?"

"Mmhmm!" She nodded happily and moved closer to me and whispered "I got the feeling he likes me too so I'm gonna try to confess to him if we win the match!"

Heh. Tsuchi must be doing something in the background again.

"Sure sure, good luck!" She smiled and turned back to run back to her booth, "Eh! Wait! I wanna buy two tickets!"

Luckily, she heard me before she got through the crowd. "Okay! I'll go get two right away. It's 40¥ each. Exhibition Match on Friday."

Oooh that was cheaper than expected.

Then I got hit on the head by a crutch.

"Suzushina-chan... Why..." I clutched my head, tears already forming.

"My sister took pictures of us yesterday."

"It's not my fault!"

"It is for making me... laugh like... That."

"Oh giggle? You were cute though."

I received another hit for being insensitive.

"Guhhhh."

I turned to look at her.

Something was... Off... She still had those delicate features that were pressed into a frown. And her eyes were still red... Oh and her nose was bruised. Badly.

She noticed me staring at her nose.

"Worst set up a prank. A road sign collided majestically with my face." She explained deadpan.

Hah sarcasm.

"Kano-san, I got your tickets..." Musujime-san trailed off when she saw me in a curled up woodlouse position and Yuriko standing next to me like a satisfied dog owner happy that her pet had learned a new trick.

"Is this some master-servant thing?"

"NO!" "HELL NO!"

"You two even are synchronized."

"What?!" "Eh?"

"And Kano-san. Is the extra ticket for her?"

"EHHHH?!" "NO!"

Musujime was obviously growing more and more interested by our reactions. Apparently, so were the other students, as a small crowd was watching us.

"Heheheh. Suzushina-san, you are so tsundere." Musujime was openly laughing now, tears of amusement quickly forming.

I laughed while Yuriko fumed silently and hit me with her crutch. Not realizing that she was simply confirming Musujime's suspicions.

"Heheheheh." She wiped off a tear. "Okay, I'll stop teasing you two now. Here's your tickets Kano-dono." She took my money and waved goodbye as returned to her booth while Yuriko and I stood there in utter terror as we realized the possible magnitude the repercussions of her teasing would leave.

A large number of people were now pointing at us and whispering amongst themselves.

Sometimes, Wednesdays were worse than Mondays.

This is definitely one of those days.

* * *

"Kaaanooo-donoooo!"

"Huh? Tsuchi?"

"I heard about what happened todayyyyy!"

I facepalmed.

Yuriko noticed and took it as a silent go-ahead for her to hit him with her crutch.

Huh. We were becoming a team already.

Less than a minute later...

"Kanooo!" "Kano-san."

Oh no. Not Touma AND Fukiyose.

Yuriko glanced at me.

"Hey we heard about Musujime-san teasing both of you..."

I nodded.

Her crutch flew in a straight line.

Fukiyose looked as if she wanted to save her boyfriend for a split-second... but she decided better on it and let it hit him.

He flew four meters back. Impressive.

"Seiri... Why did you let it hit me..."

"You deserved it. Plus, you saw what happened to Tsuchimikado less than a minute ago."

"You were about to tease them too right?"

"Nope. I wanted to say good morning."

I ignored their argument and put my arms on my desk, getting ready to sleep through the first period.

"Kano-san! I heard from Musujime-san! I thought you would have more honor than to hit on the new student!"

Whaaaaat?! Tsukuyomi sensei too?!

Yuriko buried her face in her arms.

I slammed my face on the table.

Touma and Tsuchimikado recovered immediately and grinned... Well, pretty much the whole class did.

Now I officially hate Wednesdays more than Mondays.

* * *

A.N. Hi! Thanks for reading again! Please go ahead and review or comment. Next chapter may be a little different and i dont know if you will like it so yeah XD I tried to put in a few references to the light novel. If you read them im SURE you know where the ballista idea came from.

riyangendut: She didnt call because there was no reception as the rain was pretty bad. I believe it was written but it may have been too conspicuous. i should have been a little clearer.

MarkJ: YES! I wanted to do that but i wasnt sure how to go through with it. The way i write is i animate what the story is like in my head but i still have trouble putting that into words hehe. Thanks for the help. I still have one more emotional part... maybe more, my story isnt set in stone, im just going along with my imaginative flow. hehe.

Thanks to you two for reviewing!

If you have any ideas or inputs please put them in the review box. everyone is welcome =D

Oh yeah for the song Yuriko and the band was learning, its a real song i learnt with my band. Really fun. I made a piano transcription of it too!

This is a link if you want to listen to it : watch?v=HhjcuGFOAHQ


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Thursday night. 7:30pm

Scrub... Scrub... Scrub scrub... Scrubbah scrub scrub.

"Onee-chan, you missed a spot."

"Hmm?" I raised an eyebrow, "where?"

Mikoto pointed to a point on her back.

"Oh... Okay..."

Scrub scrub...

Her skin was starting to get red from both the heat and the rough scrubbing cloth I was using to rub her back.

Ahh it's been a while since I've had a relaxing bath with my sisters.

"HEY! STOP FLAUNTING YOUR CHEST JUST BECAUSE THEIR BIG! MANAMI SCREAMS AT WORST AS SHE IS ANNOYED THAT WORST IS USING HER CHEST AS A MEANS TO ANNOY HER!" Last Order... Well, screamed, gathering the attention of everyone else in the bath.

She looked at me.

"ONEE-CHAN! HELP ME! MANAMI CALLS OUT FOR ASSISATANCE WITH DEALING WITH WORST!"

Not peaceful anymore.

And you guessed it right. Us five sisters were in a public bath.

* * *

"Ahhhh"

I dipped my shoulders under water.

This felt good.

Last Order had only calmed down when the owner of the bath had come in to scold her. And we had also scolded Worst for starting the fight by pressing her rather large breasts in front of Last Order's face.

Well, Last Order was still seven. She might have bigger ones in the future.

Her birthday should be coming up soon though... Arghh... My long term memory still sucks.

After getting hit by that damn car, I had only lost control of one leg. But when I flew and protected Last Order from hitting the ground, my head had hit a curb and now I had problems recalling things that I haven't thought about in more than a week.

They were all kinda fuzzy.

Not that I told anyone other than that energetic doctor... Though he did mention referring me to another doctor called 'Heaven Canceler' in Academy City or something...

And that Kano invited me to join him to watch a Senshadou match tomorrow... I haven't sent him my reply...

"Ahhh"

I rubbed my temples and leaned back on the edge of the bath for a few seconds, then lurched back into sitting position with my legs spread out in front of me.

I stared at my reflection in the water to try to get an answer to my question.

My red eyes are redder than normal today. Maybe it's the bath water?

...

Eh... Why is there a shadow in the water in-between my legs?

"Hey, hey, Onee-chan. What's going on in your mind?" Mikoto's head appeared from the water, like a crocodile emerging from a lake. "You got that 'thinking face' going on."

I was about to shout when Misaka's head popped out from beside Mikoto's, nodding in approval to Mikoto's earlier statement. "Mm! Mm! I agree that Onee-chan is acting rather oddly today."

My eyes narrowed "First of all, I was trying to remember something." They grinned. I had the feeling they were intentionally misinterpreting my reply. "And secondly, HOW DID BOTH OF YOU MANAGE TO FIT YOUR HEADS IN-BETWEEN MY LEGS?!"

Now it was my turn to attract attention...

* * *

"Ohhh... So it's a guy huh."

Misaka just shook her head and dived back underwater. Most likely going off to scare Worst or Last Order.

"Not really. I just don't know what to say."

I glanced at Mikoto.

Well, not really glanced. Her face was about five centimeters away from mine. Close enough to feel her breathing.

She really looked pretty though... With water dripping down her chin. Her hazel eyes and brown hair...

'OI OI! YOU'RE A GIRL' My consciousness mentally slapped me. 'SHE'S YOUR SISTER TOO! NO INCEST!'

I shook my head furiously.

Mikoto now had a confused look on her face.

"Hehe. It's fine..." I harrumphed. "But yeah... I don't really know what to tell him. I don't like like him you know? But he's been really nice to me so I don't want to come off as a bitch."

She put a finger on her chin. "True, but not saying anything will be worse." She broke into a grin. "Just say what you want! It will be fine!"

Misaka's head reappeared beside me at that moment. Frightening the living shit out of me.

"I agree with Mikoto." She said and nodded.

"Why are you here?!"

She didn't bother responding to my question and submerged herself underwater again.

A few seconds later, I heard Worst yelp in surprise.

Heh.

* * *

"I didn't expect you of all people to get surprised by Misaka."

"Heheheheh it's fun to get scared once in a while. And she's gotten really good."

The five of us were on our way home.

After buying two times the amount of milk a normal person would, with the exception of Worst, we had gone to the nearby bridge to enjoy the night breeze.

Arguing all the while of course.

"Onee-chan! Manami says indignantly as she has been ignored and barely a single line of dialogue has been heard from her even though she has been talking almost non-stop since the bath!" Last Order indignantly said.

"Heheheheh that's why your ignored. It because your noisy." Worst poked her nose into my conversation to annoy Last Order.

"Onee-chan! She's at it again! Manami complains as she pulls on your crutch." She said as she pulled on my crutch.

I used my free hand to push Worst's face, which was almost touching mine away. "Ugh... Worst stop. And Last Order, you are going to make me fall!"

She jumped away and looked down at the ground. Silent for the first time in hours.

Eh? Did I hurt her feelings?

"Last Order. There's a capsule machine over there. There's Gekota in it." Misaka pointed at a nearby convienience store where Mikoto was spending coins like no tomorrow in a bid to get a Gekota strap.

"Eh?! Mikoto is already there?! Manami says in alarm as she runs to the machine as well!"

Huh. I guess she was just pouting.

"Hey Misaka... Are you not going to go as well aren't you also a fan of Gekota?"

Misaka held up her phone which had a small heart shaped pendant glued to its back. As well as a new Gekota strap I had never seen before.

"I already got one yesterday heheheh."

Ah. That explains a lot. Those three sisters always fought over Gekota merchandise.

Then I noticed Worst clutching her head mumbling something.

"...must not give in... Must control urgeeee!"

"Worst? You can go you know? I don't judge."

She suddenly burst off and ran to the machine as well.

I smiled at my four sisters fighting over the one Gekota strap the machine had spat out.

Ah. I gotta message Kano. It's already nine...

I whipped out my phone.

How should I respond... I can't sound too excited. Because I really wanna know what's all the Senshadou craze about.

Even Worst liked it. Though she only watched the best teams.

Mikoto and Misaka were also in to it. Even though they did Haifuri competitions.

~~~~~~~~Kano~~~~~~~~~~~

*bzzzt bzzzt*

Hmm? My phone?

I stopped my piano practice and grabbed my phone.

I opened the text.

'I'll come with you tomorrow. I'll wait for you at stadium 3. That's where the match it right?'

YES!

I punched the air.

She accepted! I didn't expect that.

Not only that, but I managed to get her number.

When I asked her yesterday if she wanted to come, she had just taken my phone number so she could reply me but refused to give me hers.

My phone vibrated again.

Another text?

'What time is it? I forgot.'

I started laughing.

* * *

Next day

"Eh?"

"Hmm?"

I had left home at seven in the morning so I would reach there at eight which was half an hour before our agreed meeting time.

I had arrived at eight fifteen.

Still fifteen minutes early. And forty-five minutes before the match started.

But Yuriko was already there.

"How? You live further away from here than me!" I said in annoyance that she was earlier than me and in surprise that she would arrive early.

"Well..." She narrowed her eyes.

* * *

Yuriko. Six in the morning

*yawn* "Good morning Onee-chan... Wait... Onee-chan?!"

Mikoto was standing at the kitchen doorway, in her glorious morning hair, messed up pajamas, staring at me in disbelief.

Her disbelief is justified.

I was normally a heavy sleeper and would wake up at eleven on holidays and even when there was school, the earliest I would awaken was at seven.

Barely enough time for me to get ready and reach school which started at seven thirty.

I had prepared for my sisters noticing this odd behavior of mine and had set up several countermeasures. So I continued to blissfully enjoyed my coffee.

Then Mikoto's face lit up in realisation.

"Ohhhh it's because of that invitation for that guy isn't it?" She grinned, all semblance of sleepiness gone.

"Nope. I have extra lessons." I acted calm but prayed to any and every God out there to help me.

"Hmm... Yeah... You haven't been doing so well haven't you. Even though A Certain highschool's syllabus is five years behind Nagatenjouki." She taunted. Mikoto really did know how to get on my nerves.

A vien on my forehead popped.

And I forgot all about the many reasons and excuses I had thought up.

"NO! I AM NOT THAT DUMB! AND YES! ITS BECAUSE OF THAT INVITATION!" I shouted at Mikoto, my face turning red in anger and embarrassment.

"Oh," she smiled coyly, "so you DON'T have lessons and it's for an invitation to a date huh?"

I was about to scream when Misaka appeared from behind Mikoto. "You may not want to scream again. Worst and Last Order are still sleeping but they may wake up if you shout again."

My pupils shrank in horror.

"Anyways, good luck Onee-chan! Misaka and I are gonna take a bath now!" Mikoto said as she pushed her twin away.

I facepalmed.

Hmm... I guess I'll leave early. I didn't think I would be able to wake up this early anyway.

That Mikoto better not tell Worst.

* * *

Back to Kano

Yuriko seemed to be thinking of something.

I'd better not disturb her... After spending almost two weeks in school with her, I have had my fair share of painful hits from her trusty and reliable crutch.

She does look really cute today...

Yuriko was wearing a slightly oversized white long sleeved T-shirt with grey lines with a long blue skirt that covered her knees plus a small hairclip with some kind of frog mascot on it.

After a few seconds, of grimacing and glaring at the floor, she recovered and forced a smile.

"Okay. Let's go."

Ooooh avoiding the topic eh.

"So, at what time did you get here?"

She glanced at me, "seven thirty."

Eh?

EHHHHH?!

"WHAT?! YOU'VE BEEN WAITING FOR ME FOR FORTY-FIVE MINUTES?!"

"Yeah. I'm getting hungry too."

* * *

We were now in a small family restaurant enjoying our breakfast.

It was a new experience for me since I always hung out with friends or stayed at home, I had never gone to a family restaurant before. But it seems like it's a daily event for Yuriko. Probably because of her many sisters.

"So… erm… Suzushina-san, what's good?"

"Hmm? Just get the usual. All of these kinds of restaurants serve food that tastes almost the same… except for a few really nice ones."

She had a wistful expression now. Almost as if she was dreaming about a restaurant… I mean food.

"So?" her adorable expression evaporated, replaced by her usual frown. "What are you gonna get. I've been waiting to order for the last five minutes."

Oh shit.

"Ahh… I've never actually come to a family restaurant before and I have no idea what to get… heheheheh."

This is embarrassing =_=#

And now, cheer for Yuriko's reaction!

Weeeeee!

You'd think she'd just wave me off right? Or even tell me what was good.

NO!

She, rather magnificently and somehow gracefully, slammed her face on the table and said one statement with her face still facing the table: "You are truly, without doubt, a child with not only no childhood, but also have no common sense."

It was followed with: "COME ON! USE YOUR DAMN BRAIN! YOU DON'T EVEN KNOW WHAT A BENTO IS?!"

And a string of profanities.

Of course there would be profanities. Its Yuriko after all. But in order to keep this story suitable for the younger ones, I shall not tell the writer what exactly she said.

You can imagine though *wink*

"We got chased out…"

"All thanks to you."

What!? ME?! I didn't scream every known insult in man-kind's history at someone who didn't know what to buy!"

"Yes. You didn't. But you made the person who did get angry enough to do so. Still your fault."

I facepalmed. She did have a point. The menu consisted of common foods.

"But I'm still hungry."

I glanced at her.

"Don't you just drink coffee or something? I've never seen you actually hungry other than that time with the cup noodles."

She glared at me hard enough to make me break a cold sweat.

Did I hit a sensitive topic?

"I do eat. Dumbass. But I'm not always hungry like you are. And what you said is a horrible thing to say to a girl."

'I'd think you were a guy if I didn't know better... And if you weren't wearing a skirt' I thought to myself. I would never say that-

"You just thought that I would be better as a guy didn't you?"

Eh? Exactly on point! This girl's a genius.

"Hehehehe my bad-OOF"

And I received my daily dosage of pain from her crutch.

Eventually, we had found a small café where we could enjoy our breakfast.

I still didn't know what to buy though…

However! I say this with pride, Yuriko helped me choose.

Though it isn't a particularly great thing hehe.

"So why is school cancelled today?" Yuriko sipped on her coffee "and why are there so many schools here?"

A pair of girls from another school walked past us. One had long hair and a really nice figure and the other was short and had flowers on her head.

No. I can't let myself be distracted. I'm with a girl.

'Sadly, it's not a date' I thought cynically.

"Hmm… Sensha tournaments are really big events because there are huge schools like Kuromorimine and Pravda participating. And for schools that don't want to use World War Two era tanks, such as Academy City funded schools like Nagatanjouki and Tokiwadai, they do Haifuri which is ship-to-ship fighting and its streamed live in stadium four."

Yuriko's eyes widened.

"And since its such a large event, a lot of clubs other than the Senshadou team like journalism and photography use it to get interviews and the sort. Performing groups can also showcase themselves between match breaks when the engineers have to replace the old fighting field."

"Replace?" She seemed skeptical. Hehe time to blow her mind.

"Yeah. Since the tanks are using live ammunition, the ground is certain to have craters and the like. So instead of patching them up, the entire field will be brought underground and a new playing field will be brought back up to replace it. Its really amazing because each field is about twenty square kilometers large... We gotta thank Academy for helping us build these stadiums."

(A.N. if you cant visualize cos im bad at describing, its something like the pokemon anime where the battle ground can change from like mountainous terrain to a field at anytime.)

Yuriko's eyes bulged out of her sockets.

"So yeah" I continued, "A lot of clubs are having activities on competition days which amount to a third to two thirds of the student population in any school, and a lot of people want to watch, schools have pretty much made every day there is a match on a weekday a holiday."

"Oh…no wonder we got that one week long break last year…"

I grinned. "Yeah! And last year, I was here every day for that one week."

Yuriko looked at something behind me. Then raised an eyebrow and smirked. "Match starts in five minutes by the way."

Ha?

I turned.

There was a clock behind me. It read eight fifty-five.

SHIT!

~~~~~~~~~~Yuriko~~~~~~~~~~~

Kano stretched from his seat behind me.

It had been a fun match. Even though it was an exhibition match, not an official competitive match, our school had managed to beat Chi-Ha-Tan Academy. Our first win in five years.

I can't believe I had missed out on this much fun for years.

Kano caught sight of Musujime-san who was being cheered for.

And damn it was noisy. Everyone had been cheering for the one school that was actually worse off than Chi-Ha-Tan despite having stronger tanks. Not that I knew their names.

Musujime-san had run up to the seating area and joined Kano and I…

And she HUGGED him?!

"Thanks for cheering us on!" She looked really happy though… so it can be excused.

"Sure, sure… I'll be watching your next match!" Kano was blushing… probably happy that her breasts were pressing against his because of her hugging so damn tightly...

Eh? Am I jealous?!

"Ah Suzushina-san! Thanks for coming!' Musujime-san elbowed Kano's ribs. "I hope you enjoyed the match. And Kano-san… I thought you said the extra ticket wasn't for her?" She smiled coyly.

"OI CAPTAIN. YOU'RE NEEDED HERE!" Another student was standing on top of her tank and shouting.

"Oh I gotta go... See you soon!"

She bowed in thanks to us and ran off… never to be seen again. Nah just kidding.

Kano and I started walking to the train station. The sun was setting.

"So how was it?"

I was not gonna tell him what I thought about earlier.

"It was fun. I liked it more than I expected to."

That was an honest thought.

"That's good." He seemed to be considering something. "You wanna come with me again tomorrow? There are matches everyday till Tuesday."

Ahh there it is.

"But if you don't want to come its fine."

I did want to go... But I have to go for a check-up tomorrow…

I didn't know how to reply so I kept quiet.

* * *

He was getting off on this stop… Mine is the next one.

And I still haven't given him a reply.

What is wrong with me?

The train doors opened.

I guess I'll tell him on the phone.

"Bye." I murmured and closed my eyes.

The train doors closed.

"Hmm? I'll be sending you home. Didn't we agree on that?"

Eh?

I turned. Kano was still sitting beside me.

"We did?" I don't believe I said something like that.

"Yeah? I told you I'll send you home since its already dark out and you nodded… Though you seemed kinda out of it."

Ohhh noooo…

I was still… UGHHHH.

Hey but at least I'll still have time to tell him.

* * *

We were at the park beside my house. It was just fifty meters away.

"Hey… Kano."

"Hmm?"

His tone seemed cheerful. He must be in a really good mood.

"We can stop here. My house is just ahead. See that building over there?"

"Yeah."

"So uhh… Thank you for today."

He smiled. "Sure. Thanks to you too!" He turned to walk away.

It's now or never.

"HEY! Kano…" He stopped mid-step and turned his head.

"Hmm?"

Oh my god. I'm so nervous...

'Get a hold on yourself! Come on!' My inner voice called out.

Determination flooded into my head.

And drained away immediately.

I am an idiot.

"I can't make it tomorrow…" I made a sidelong glance at him. "I have a doctors' appointment tomorrow…"

I don't know if her heard me. I was pretty soft.

The moonlight couldn't reach him there. There were too many trees blocking the light. With the addition of the hat he was wearing, his face was completely dark, giving me the impression that he was angry.

Since when did I care? I surprise even myself.

I looked at my feet.

Why was I feeling so awkward?!

He turned his body fully and walked to me, stopping just in front of me.

The light could reach him here. And… he was smiling?

"Its fine." Kano ruffled my hair, making me look at him. "I managed to spend today with you which is good enough for me since we've only known each other for what? Two weeks?" He put his hand away and grinned. "And thanks for spending today with me too. Usually I would be alone since those three don't have the patience to watch a match."

I grinned, no more awkward feelings.

"But I can make it on Sunday."

His face lit up.

"That's great! See you!"'

I smiled to myself.

I think I may just like him.

…

Just a little.

* * *

A.N WEEEEE MY LONGEST CHAPTER! (still a measly 3.5k words though...) I actually wanted to put in a Senshadou match in the middle in Musujime's POV but I have no idea how to write it so I'm researching hehe.

And for those who don't know what is Senshadou, its a women's sport where girls drive tanks.

Haifuri isn't a sport. Its a show about girls learning how to grow up while living on repurposed warships. and yes those warships can shoot. (go watch. the show is called high school fleet) But in this fic, I thought that in senshadou is a girls sport, ship-to-ship battles should be too. I'm still learning how to write battles so stay tuned XD

MarkJ: No prob! I haven't had any probs reading your reviews and you've helped a lot. I re-read a lot of books and fics to try and get used to adding more emotion and expression to my story too. XD

Yeah this story may seem like its gonna become a cross-over but nope. I love to aru and it will always be the main thing here. and accelerator may appear if I can fit him in XD

400+ views now... I'm crying with joy

See you and thanks for reading. reviews, favs and follows are cherished and treasured XD


	8. Chapter 7 point 5

A.N. This is Awaki's POV of the match Kano and Yuriko watched. I hope you like it as this is the first time ive written anything like this XD

* * *

Chapter 7.5  
Musujime Awaki

We could barely here the crowd cheering from here, inside the tank. We could still hear it, But it was almost inaudible.

But the announcer's message blared out clearly across the stadium, cutting through the varied noises of the arena.

"This will be a elimination match. A Certain highschool versus Chi-Ha-Tan."

I could feel my team's nervousness emanating from their tanks. Not to say that I wasn't nervous too.

Taking a deep breath, I went into serious-mode.

"Hey captain. I got a super good feeling about this." Kinuhata, our driver somehow radiated confidence instead of nervousness.

Well, she hadn't seen how bad we were in a competition. She was still a first year after all. This was her first match with us.

"A Certain highschool is fielding five tanks; one Panzer V Panther, two Panzer IIIs, one StuG III and one Panzer II. Chi-Ha-Tan girls is fielding seven old T-97s, and three new T-97s."

"Hah. You see? Our enemies' tanks can barely beat our super Panzer threes let alone our super Panzer five."

See what I mean by confidence? Maybe a little overconfidence as well.

"Yes. But I heard that they had learnt a lot from Ooarai's commander." I tried to stop her from getting complacent. "They even managed to knock out several Pershings via guerrilla tactics."

"But we're super better than them! That University team wasn't that super good. Am I right Umidori-san?"

"Hai, hai!" The said girl nodded and grinned maniacally.

Kuroyou Umidori was our gunner. Apparently, Kuroyou and Kinuhata had both come from a school where they had a part-time instructor that went by the name 'Worst' teach them.

Kuroyou focused on the attack while Kinuhata focused on the defence. They were known as the Bomber Lance and the Offence armor in their old school.

They had been good enough to take part in the Dark May extreme championships for Middle schools. They went up against even University and Adult teams.

Hopefully, they would be able to carry us to victory.

"Match between A Certain highschool and Chi-Ha-Tan girls begins in THREE, TWO, ONE, START!"

I grinned and shouted into the team radio, "Alright! Let's go!"

The tank's engine revved loudly and we lurched forward thanks to Kinuhata forcing the tank up a hill.

"Err... Kinuhata-san... Isn't this a bit too reckless?" I was a little unsure about her driving considering how reckless she was.

"Don't super doubt me."

"Heheheheh Kinuhata-san, looks like our captain doesn't trust us."

"You're right Umidori-san. She's super scared of losing to a lousy school like them."

I sighed. This was annoying. But they were great crew members when things got serious. Which was a good thing.

Popping my head out of the turret hatch, I looked around.

The fighting area was five kilometeres long and four kilometers in breadth.

It was the second smallest of the four stadiums in this area.

The arena chosen was an open field with several hills. There was a large hill with a gentle slope on the left side of the rectangle and a plateau with a steep one-sided climb to the top. In the middle, there was a valley with a hill in the middle.

Of course this landscape does not seem natural. It was pre-fabricated by Academy City after all. Plus, it was supposed to make for interesting battles.

Our main strategy was to send in our Panzer IIIs as scouts down the hill, and have our StuG III set up camp with the Panzer II as escort from the plateau and snipe the enemy.

Meanwhile, we in the Pather, which was nearly invincible against T-97s, would hang around about five hundred meters behind the Panzer IIIs and ambush the enemy when they appear.

The team had agreed that it was a solid plan.

Well, plans are always solid when in theory.

They never worked for us before as most of us are too conservative to adapt on the go when our plans were foiled.

We were almost reaching the valley... That was fast.

Well, we ARE on a small area.

I spoke into my comm piece, "Okay P threes," I shortened it to allow me to speak faster, "it's your time to shine. Full speed ahead and stop when you see an enemy. StuG and P two, up to the plateau now. If you see an enemy, take 'em out, if there's more than one, P two, you act as a decoy. The StuG is more important because it has much more firepower. We will be waiting till any of you encounter the main force and go in."

I waited for my team to respond.

"P three here, understood." "Panzer three, URA!" "Hi from the StuG, we practiced our aiming like crazy. Get ready for at least five kills." "Panzer two here... Why are we always the decoy?"

The Panzer II team got a literal ton of good natured teasing from the rest of the team.

The good thing about having a small and not very good team is that most of the time, the members are very well bonded.

Just like us.

"Hehe, okay guys enough teasing. Let's win this. We've waited years for a win. Lets go!"

"URA!"

I grinned at the teams great response. I had a good feeling about this fight.

* * *

"Captain! Xochitl here, the two of us are taking heavy fire. Three of them fools charged us and we took them out. But the other four got one of our treads. Only Frenda's tank can move now."

I frowned. This was both good and bad.

I poked my head out of the turret hatch to look around.

The Panther was hidden in a large bush, out of sight of the enemy, and we could see and hear the explosions from missed shots coming from the front of our general area.

I now had two choices; charge in and save the Panzer three team or snipe the enemy from afar.

The StuG team has been silent though... They haven't replied my calls to them but there wasn't an announcement to say that they were knock-

"Panzer II from A Certain highschool has been immobilized."

-ed out...

Shit.

"Captain." Kuroyou was tapping my shoulder furiously. "They went around and guessed our strategy. We gotta improvise. Yes, some of them are idiots that charge like those three that attacked the P three team,"

Kinuhata completed her sentence, "But some are veterans from that fight they had with Miho Nishizumi."

I nodded. Our current enemy had learnt how to fight with guerrilla tactics.

That meant despite having no chance beating our Panther in a straight up fight, they had a chance to knock us out.

An announcement blared.

"An old T97 has been eliminated."

"Woooo good job StuG team!" A high pitched voice belonging to none other than Frenda rang out in my earpiece.

Then I had a plan.

"P three team. How many enemies are with you now?"

"Err... Four. They are doing a good job pinning us down. But their accuracy is horrible hehe."

"Okay Frenda. Could you push Xochitl's tank towards us?"

"Sure sure, we're coming! Give us ten minutes... These guys can't shoot if their lives depended on it can they..."

Another announcement blared. "A new T-97 and an old one were taken out. StuG III is also out."

What...

My crew all looked to me. Disbelief on their faces.

Then, 'Only My Railgun' started playing.

"Alright," I asked, exasperated. This wasn't the time to use their phones. "who's phone is it?"

Everyone in the tank either patted their jacket pockets or shook their heads.

Then I felt MY pocket vibrating.

"Super good job captain!" Kinuhata have me a thumbs up.

I facepalmed at my own stupidity and picked up the phone when I realized it was Banrii-san from StuG team. I set it on speaker for all to hear.

"Sorry guys. When we were ambushed, they hit us and the Panzer two and our radios were damaged. But we got them both but though were taken out too..." Haruue Erii, the gunner for the StuG said in disappointment.

My jaw dropped.

They were apologizing even after taking out three tanks? They had improved so much!

I noticed Umidori and our Loader, Kumokawa Maria, nodding their heads in approval.

"Don't worry you guys. You did great!" I replied them.

"Thanks captain!"

"Captain!" Kinuhata was alert. This meant trouble. "The Panzer threes are here. Both taking heavy fire. Four enemies. Two old T97s and two new ones.

I cut off the line.

No more distractions.

It was the Panther's time to shine.

"Let's go! Four easy kills for us! UTE!"  
(A.N. Ute means fire in Jap)

"Ura!"  
(A.N. Ura is like a cheer. Like hurrah!)

The enemy team was charging towards our Panzer IIIs, former reservations lost. It seemed that when they thought they were in the lead, they would revert back to their old habit of charging.

Heheheheh fatal mistake.

Our first shot hit the tank leading the charge, sending it flying onto its side, forcing it to raise the white flag.

The round casing was ejected from the barrel and Maria reloaded within seconds.

One of the remaining tanks, a new T97 which had slightly different markings from the rest, most likely the leader, stopped in her tracks and fired at us. The other two continued in their charge.

Idiots.

The enemy's shots bounced off our armor like they were nothing.

"Heheh. See captain? I told you this would be a piece of cake."

Huh. She was right. I really should take things easier.

And we sped towards our enemies.

Within seconds, Umidori fired a good shot that hit the muzzle an enemy tank's gun, forcing it to raise the white flag.

However, the remaining charging tank managed to slam into Xochitl's damaged tank, immobilizing it and firing another shot to put Frenda out of commission.

At the cost of their own life, as Frenda managed to shoot it at the same time, immobilizing it as well.

"That driver was good!" Kinuhata grinned. "Let's see if their commander's driver is just as good!"

"Let's see if they can shoot heheheh." Umidori was also starting to get pumped.

'Too bad it's at the end if the match' I thought cynically.

By now, it was too dangerous for me to keep my head outside the tank so I dove in and locked the hatch.

The last enemy tank was retreating in a zig-zag pattern into a forested area.

Just as the Panzer III team said, their accuracy was horrible. It was more likely for us to get hit if we tried to evade than if we charged straight to them.

They were most likely trying to bait us into the forest and then ram us and try to hit our turret at point blank range...

Though it wasn't really a forest to be honest... More like a park with a dense filling of trees.

"Okay. Kinuhata-san, stop the tank."

"WHAT?! THAT'S SUPER NOT COOL! I BARELY GOT TO MOVE!" Kinuhata started screaming in protest as she obeyed my command.

"Umidori-san, show me the power of the 'Bomber Lance'. Snipe them from here."

The enemy was now 600 meters away and that gap was increasing by the second. There were even trees and bushes blocking her line if sight.

If she landed the shot, it would no doubt be an amazing snipe.

She seemed to know as well as a serious atmosphere permeated the tank.

Her breathing stopped.

Time seemed to slownforna second as her trigger finger moved slowly,

*BANG*

Then she fired.

*CRACK*

Did she hit a tree?

*BOOM*

An explosion rang out.

She nailed the shot?

I threw open the turret hatch and searched for the other tank.

Well, it wasn't a tank now.

Her shot had penetrated a tree and hit the engine of the final enemy tank, causing the back of it to explode.

Luckily, the crew area had been reinforced with carbon plating. Another gift from Academy City that allowed this sport to be played.

The carbon plating made the crew area impervious to the shells that our tanks used. As well as allowed the tank to remain around the same weight as it's original World War Two design.

By the way, only a shot from a warship could penetrate the carbon plated casing. So even if the entire tank explodes, which is pretty much impossible, the crew will still be safe.

"Two new T97s, two old T97s and two Panzer IIIs are immobilized. Last remaining tank belongs to A Certain highschool. Winner of the match is A Certain highschool."

A wave of joy swept through me. In all my three years of experience in the Senshadou club in this school, this was my first year as captain.

And my first win.

Kinuhata and Umidori were giving each other hi-fives while Maria and our radio-woman, Enshuu-chan hugged each other in joy.

As we drove back to the spectators area, I noticed the crowed cheering for us.

And in the distance, I saw Etzali-kun waving to me.

Our tank stopped in front of the spectators who had come down to cheer for us.

And waiting for us in front of them were the rest of the team. All of them.

We hugged, jumped around, squealed and even giggled. And I finally could relieve my tough facade that I held during the match to keep the team serious.

Then, the most amazing thing happened. For me at least. I could sense his sisters getting annoyed.

Though I didn't feel any hostility. That was great ain't it.

What was the amazing thing? I think you can guess.

*pssst* It was a hug and a congratulations. No kissing though.

Then I noticed Kano and Suzushina-chan looking at us from the higher seats and smiling...

Well, Kano was, Suzushina-chan had the usual frown... Though she did seem more relaxed and if I may risk saying it, happy.

The sun was already setting though. The match felt really short but in reality, it lasted from nine thirty in the morning till four. Plus the half hour it took for our tank to drive here.

The arena seemed small and felt small. But it actually took a loooong time to travel across.

As I bounded up the steps, I noticed Kano stand to greet me. And I noticed Suzushina-chan staring at my chest.

Hehe. Time to annoy her.

I jumped and hugged Kano, and it goes without saying that he stiffened and started blushing... As for Suzushina-chan, hehe.

I believe I shouldn't tell you. Since she would probably kill me.

*pssst* She blushed slightly. REALLY SLIGHTLY. But noticeable. Because... Well, I'm a girl afterall.

I thanked Kano for his support and bounded off to rejoin my team.

And my precious Etzali-kun.

* * *

A.N. MarkJ: thanks for always being there to give me tons of constructive criticism and the occasional compliment. *hugs*

I hope you guys liked this chapter since its rather different than normal and I tried my best to add as many characters as I could.

reviews are much appreciated =D They help me improve! XD

Really short A.N this time eh?


	9. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Suzushina Yuriko.  
Checkup #44  
Unofficial checkup #12  
3p.m.

I was in the hospital waiting room. Alone. This was apart from the normal ones i had every month, my parents were not here with me.

These check ups were... Personal.

"Okay. Suzushina-san, you may come in." The doctors voice came from a speaker above his office door.

Yes. This was the same friendly doctor as usual.

I opened the door. The warm air from his office was a huge contrast to the stale air in the waiting room.

It was September now, so it was quite cold. This warmth was welcome.

"Hi hi Suzu-chan!" He waved and leaned back on his seat. "Still don't feel like telling your parents?"

"Yeah."

"Well, the results from the forth check up have come in. Sorry it took so long for it to get confirmed. As you know, our current technology is incapable of helping you and can barely slow down your prob-"

"Just say it. I'm not here for advertisements on Academy City tech." I interrupted him. I hated that topic.

"Hai, hai" he looked at a bundle of papers on his table. "Well, as you already know, your brain was damaged and your mental capabilities have been reduced..."

I glared at him for continuing to avoid the topic. What could be so bad to make him act like this?

"But your spinal cord was also damaged. Not enough to paralyzed at the time, by as time goes on, the damage will continue to spread due to strain on the bone. But as the damage spreads, you will start to lose control of some parts of your body."

So thats why he was so nervous.

"So you will pretty much be paralyzed and if any one your organs are unable to work or if it strikes at a bad time..."

My suspicions were confirmed. I had noticed that it was getting progressively harder to move around and my back would hurt slightly whenever I moved too much or twisted it.

This was why I didn't want my parents to come with me.

"So yeah. If you wanna go to Academy City..."

I had considered treatment there before, but the costs were so damn high that even I was afraid of being treated.

Seriously, eighty million yen? What the hell.

I had no will to burden my parents and my sisters with that. If they knew, I had no doubt that they would do all they could to get me treated. And may in the process, take up multiple jobs.

And knowing my loving sister Worst... She may go do some rather... Questionable jobs to get money.

If I died, yes, they would be sad. But they would get over it after a year or so.

And if they wasted the money that would allow me to live, I wouldn't be able to live like a normal person. I won't be able to get a job easily, and I would need help from someone.

Who will want to get married to horrible 'ol me? Kihara abandoned me the moment he noticed I wasn't smart anymore.

Plus, they'd be marrying someone who will die sooner or later, or they will have to pay millions to save my pitiful ass. And by the way, I will still be a cripple.

I slammed my face on his desk, making him jump in surprise.

"No," I looked up at him. "Do not tell anyone. And I don't want treatment. Just tell me how long more."

He started sweating... Well, more than he was earlier.

"Well... For about two years more, your spine will continue to grow. Slightly. Since girls stop growing at eighteen.

But if you are lucky, which you have a five percent chance, you will be able to continue to move albeit without your legs. Both of them."

For some reason, I started laughing. What was I thinking earlier? Getting married?! Ahahahahahahahahahha!

The doctor looked at me oddly. Most likely considering to send me to a mental hospital.

I wiped away a tear. I don't know if it was from disappointment or from laughing so hard or even sadness, but it still came.

"Haha... Ha... ha... Well then I'd better enjoy myself while I can should i?"

The doctor frowned.

The first time I saw him do that.

"Why don't you seek treatment Suzu-chan? Your family loves you and-" I cut him off.

"Yes, they love me now. But what if I'm older? If I go for treatment and survive, what will I become? A cripple? And then what? Spend another few million to get my legs back to normal?" I bombarded him with questions before he could even answer the first one.

"And how will they take care of me? Huh?" My volume started increasing. "I will just become a burden to them. Even my parents. who might be grandparents by then, would be more useful than me!" By the time I had finished, my face was flushed red and my blood was pumping.

The doctor sighed and shook his head.

"I'm sad that you think that way. But if thats what you want, it is my duty as a doctor to be accommodating to my patients."

I smiled thinly in response to his reply.

"But if you ever get wheeled in, and you require medical attention, I will do whatever it takes to save you. I am not going to let you die like you want."

I liked that answer. Smiling, I nodded in thanks and pushed myself up.

Just as I left the room, I turned and reminded him. "Don't tell anyone about this."

* * *

This bridge is nice...

I was on a walkway over a river, around twenty meters wide and long... Really long. I couldn't see either end if the river.

Well, it IS a river. Yuriko you idiot. I physically hit myself on the head.

I had been standing here for the past hour. There were a few children playing an the grass river banks, playing all sorts of games.

I missed playing like that with my sisters...

*weaaanggg*

I punched the metal railing, hard enough to dent it and cause it to wobble. Luckily, it was hollow, if not, I would have broken my hand.

I stared at my hand. Blood flowing from my knuckles. The evening sun's light reflected off the fresh blood, making it shine.

The pain was welcome, it kept me from thinking anything stupid and the metallic smell of blood filled the air.

Then I heard someone come to a stop behind me.

"You shouldn't have done that you know?"

Eh? I knew that voice. I spun around as quickly as I could.

A rather welcome sight appeared.

It was Kano. Holding several plastic bags.

I controlled my voice to make it as solid and strong as possible. "I am fine thank you very much," I tried to get him to leave. "I am going home now so if you will excuse me, I will be off."

I could not trust other people with my feelings.

The last time I did it was almost a year ago.

Eight months to be exact.

At the time, I was one of the top scorers of Nagatenjouki and was pretty popular among both the boys and girls there.

And I was really close with this guy called Kihara Amata.

We were both in the top ten of the school.

But after my accident, my scores dropped. I couldn't focus and I had forgotten a lot of the things covered in the past.

I had dropped from being the top of my class to the middle. Then I dropped even lower till I reached the bottom.

The senseis understood my predicament and did not scold me.

Apparently, the students didn't get the memo. I was bullied quite a bit... More than a bit. And Worst had to step in to shoo those bastards away.

I had gone to Kihara for help and support. But he had simply laughed and punched me in the face, calling me useless to him if I wasn't smart.

So I learnt a valuable lesson; most people do not care about you unless they want something from you.

As those thoughts rushed through my mind, I set up a mental barrier and gruffly replied Kano, "Just me trying to relieve some stress."

He raised an eyebrow, "There are better ways to do that than punching a railing... Do you need a bandage? That hand is bleeding pretty badly."

I looked down at my hand. The blood hadn't stopped flowing and was dripping to the floor.

"I am fine thank you very much," I tried to get him to leave. "I am going home now so if you will excuse me, I will be off."

I started to walk but he grabbed my shoulder to stop me. "You don't seem fine. Did something happen?"

This guy...

"Nothing happened." I tried to get away again by using another tactic. "I really got to be somewhere."

"Something happened didn't it. I can see it on your face. It's obvious."

Am I really that easy to read? What the hell is wrong with me today.

"Let go of me now. Or I will hit you."

"No."

"Then I will kill you." I threatened.

"Try me." He refused to back down.

The sun was just starting setting now, casting an orange light on everything.

I spun and moved my crutch in a well practiced maneuver. It sailed in an arc around me and flowed unwaveringly through the air to its target.

Something that never happened before occurred... I shouldn't have used such dramatic terms didn't I...  
Ah well.

Kano grabbed my crutch and twisted it, forcing me to drop it. With my centrifugal force gone, and with no way to support myself, I fell towards him, my elbows landing on his chest.

"Come on. I don't wanna hurt you. I want to help, Suzushina-san. And if you just let me,"

I can't stand this behavior of his! Fuck! I do NOT want to be pitied. I punched him with my bloody hand, staining his clothes.

"I DO NOT WANT YOUR PITY!" I screamed in frustration. "AND WHY ARE YOU EVEN HERE?!"

"I was on the way home from shopping for groceries."

What.

"And then I saw you. And this happened."

The.

"Now, I am not pitying you. I just want to help. Let me as again. Are you okay?"

Hell?!

I pulled away but he grabbed both my hands. I was now relying fully in him holding me up to keep myself from falling.

"Just... LET ME GO!" I shouted while trying to force my hands away.

"Not until you tell me why."

And at that moment, for some reason, my tears started streaming down my face. My strength left me and I leaned backwards but he pulled me back to him, making me lean on his chest.

'Get a hold of yourself Yuriko!' My inner voice was shouting at me. But my body didn't want to listen.

During my two weeks at A Certain highschool, Kano had been with me... Not exactly with but he had been my constant companion for the first week. And even after his obligation as a guide was gone, he continued to try to be friends.

Even when he had gone through some emotional problems for a short while, he had tried to be friendly.

And yesterday was what really mattered. It was the first time I had gone out with a... Friend... And had felt no ulterior motives.

There were no weird questions or the extreme 'niceness' like Kihara emitted.

He had just wanted to enjoy himself and try to share his happiness with me... That's what I felt at least.

That's why I guess... That's why I trust him.

I could feel my eyelids getting heavy... And within seconds, I had fallen asleep.

* * *

"Uhhh... Ugh..." I opened my eyes. I saw stars.

I was outside? What was I doing sleeping outside? But this pillow feels nice.

I rolled over to my side, and saw... A T-shirt?

Then my memories from earlier returned.

EHH?!

I glanced up to Kano's face. He was sleeping with his head hanging down.

Apparently, I was sleeping on his lap.

I continued to stare at him sleep for a few seconds. Then he started to stir. His eyes opened and he grinned. "Suzushina-san... You're... Up? That's good... *yawn* are you feeling better?"

Huh.

I did feel better.

"Yeahhh... Can you help me up? I don't wanna lie down anymore."

"Oh yeah, sure..."

Why did he seem disappointed...

He helped me sit upright beside him on the bench he was sitting on. We were on a bench along the river bank. Just above the area the high tide would rise to.

"You feel like talking normally now?"

How was he so damn nonchalant? =,=

"How did I get here?" I wanted to check his honesty... In hindsight I wouldn't have known if he was lying or not since I was asleep so it was a rather stupid question.

"Well, after you started crying, you leant on me for a good five minutes then you fell asleep. I was so surprised I nearly dropped you. Then I carried you to this bench and got a nice person to help me carry my stuff here."

His story makes sense.

"How long was I out?"

"About an hour or so."

Okay. I am officially an idiot. I raised my other hand to punch the armrest in annoyance. But Kano put his hand in the way.

"Oi!" This is getting rather annoying.

"I don't want you to injure yourself." His voice was really gentle. "And you seemed pretty stressed. Are you okay?"

That was the third time or something he asked that question.

I answered him again. But this time, honestly.

"No... And yeah... I'm pretty stressed."

I don't know why, but I felt like I could trust him right there and then... So I started talking.

"Well, about a year ago, I was hit by a drunk driver while trying to save my little sister." His eyes widened and I gave him a questioning look but he waved me off, telling me to continue.

And so I did.

"And because of that, one if my legs can't move and the other can move normally up till the knee.

I also got brain damage which reduced my mental power by quite a bit. That's why I left Nagatenjouki. Because I became dumber than most the people there and they would pick on me.

And earlier, my doctor told me during my check up that my spine was also damaged and as I grow, my spine may get more damaged and I may either get paralyzed or die if the paralysis strikes at a bad time." I finished.

His head drooped. "That's a good reason to be stressed about..." He mumbled. Luckily I was sitting right next to him so I could here his next sentence which was even softer.

"Is she that girl..."

Ha?

He turned to face me. And bombarded me with questions.

"Where did you get hit?"

"Uhh near a mall..."

"Were you with four other girls with brown hair?"

"Ahh... Yeah? My sisters."

How did he know all this?

His last question answered my own question.

"Did you dye your hair brown?"

"Yes... I wanted to fit in with my sisters..."

He stood up and ran to a tree and punched it.

Damn hypocrite.

"Suzushina-san. Will you forgive me?"

Eh?

"I'm now sure that it was you... I was going to the mall with Touma, Fukiyose and his sister Index." He seemed very nervous, "I noticed a speeding car rushing towards your sister and I had the time to run over and grab her...

But I panicked and just shouted at you..."

So he was the guy that allowed me to save Last Order? I would never have thought... I was overwhelmed with emotion and I didn't know what to say. For years, I had been wishing that I could find the person who helped me save Last Order and thank him. And he was here all this while.

I grabbed my crutch that was leaning upright beside me and launched my body towards his, embracing him in a hug.

He stiffened and I stifled a laugh. I guess he really isn't used to being hugged.

"Thank you... Thank you for allowing me to save her." I whispered into his ear.

"Why..? I didn't do anything..."

"You gave me the chance to save my little sister. Which is more than enough for me. And I've always wanted to thank the person who warned me about the car. And now knowing that it was you..."

By now the sun had set and we could barely see each other via the ambient light from the bridge which was quite a distance away.

We stood there in silence for a while. It was a comfortable silence. For the first time in my life, I felt safe, secure...

So this is why the twins want a boyfriend. I can definitely see the appeal. Heck, I can feel it.

"Thank you Suzushina-san. For telling me about your problems. And thank you again for telling me that I helped save your sister."

I just nodded with my chin on his shoulder. We were almost the same height so the hug felt nice.

"Are you getting treatment for your problem?"

And at that question, the peaceful atmosphere evaporated instantly.

I supported myself on him and stood up on my own, looking past his shoulder at a random tree.

"No..."

"Why?"

"Because... I have to go to Academy City where treatment costs millions. And if it's successful, I will still be an albino cripple. I will still be a burden to my family. I will not be able to get a job, because I can't do office work and I can't do physical work.

I mind as well just... Disappear..." I whispered that last part. Afraid to say it.

And I was also afraid to tell him. I was afraid that he would react negatively and try his best to stay away from pathetic Yuriko.

Ughh... I've never shown myself like this to anyone before... Not even my sisters. If you had told me I would be in this situation in my second week of school, I would have thrown my crutch at you... Actually, its my third week.

"I..." I looked him in the eye. I wanted to hear what he wanted to say. "I... Know this is a bit weird... Since we just became friends... I actually don't know why I feel like this but... I'd ta.. ca.. you..."

Hah he feels awkward too.

"I didnt catch that last part." Its unbelievable how soft he was. We were literally face-to-face.

"I'd take care of you." He mumbled.

The words just hung in the air for a while.

Then the magnitude of what he said hit me like a meltdowner.

EHHHH!?

"Wha...?"

"I said," he repeated, with determination flowing into him "I'd take care of you."

I was confused. Why would he do this for someone he just met? Someone who has been an asshole to him most of the time.

"Why?"

He seemed to be blushing. I could feel his face radiating heat despite being unable to see him.

"Because... I know that this is the real you, someone who is caring to her sisters, someone... Who is willing to even die for them. That's something about you that I love.

From day one, when I saw you come into class, I noticed you looked really sad. Not from your expression. But from your eyes. Because I knew what it felt like to feel sad.

My problem was nothing compared to yours and the cause of it was a misunderstanding that had developed badly. So at the time when my problems were resolved and I felt the incredible feeling of having a problem resolved, I wanted to help you resolve yours.

So from that day, I decided to help you. I had trouble in the past but after I had help, I recovered and am now happy with no regrets..."

I had the feeling he wanted to say more but I cut him off.

"Then how do you want to help me resolve mine? Sooner or later I will get paralyzed. And I rather die than be a vegetable."

The clouds in the sky parted and the moonlight streamed down towards us, illuminating his face and adding a mysterious weight to his words.

"So I will give you a reason to live. That's what you need right? Since you'd rather lose your life than burden your family, I will be the one to carry that burden for them... If you let me that is." He smiled sheepishly at his cheesy words.

'Well, it's the cheese that makes you happy Yuriko.' I thought to myself.

But I still had my doubts.

"We just met. So how can I believe you will keep up that promise?"

I refused to believe someone other than my family would say that.

~~~~~~~~Kano~~~~~~~~~~~

"We just met. So how can I believe you will keep up that promise?" She said and stared right into my eyes.

I didn't know how to respond. Everything I said just came naturally.

As we maintained silence and just heard each other breathing, a few memories ran through my mind.

The first was my Grandpa telling me that actions spoke louder than words.

It was from just before he died and was on his deathbed. I had promised him that I would remember to honor him and would make sure that I would earn enough money to make a huge shrine in thanks for his help.

He had told me to keep quiet. "You should not promises like that lightly kiddo." He whispered, "but if that is how you really feel, you'd better keep it. Don't just tell me what you are going to do. Show me. I'll be watching you as a ghost okay? Hehe."

He still had the energy to laugh on his deathbed. That was how strong he was.

The second memory was about how I felt when I thought Uomi had left me.

The two of us had promised each other that we would never leave each other. And since it was after my Grandpa's death, I took promises extremely seriously.

And then the feeling of dejectedness and depression when I thought she had abandoned me which was followed by my friends pulling me from that dark pit I had thrown myself into.

Lastly, it was the feeling I felt after I had found out the truth to why Uomi disappeared.

The feeling of relief and joy that had come after we had reconciled was what I wanted everyone to enjoy.

Especially Yuriko.

We had been silent for a good four minutes or so. The ambient noise of crickets and speeding cars on the bridge as well as the trickling of the nearby river water made the atmosphere somewhat relaxing.

I decided to maintain this silence. And my memory rang loud and clear.

'Actions speak louder than words' eh?

Let's put that to the test.

~~~~~~~~~~Yuriko~~~~~~~~~

Kano has been silent for a while.

Was he at a loss of words or something? This atmosphere seems awkward... Yet strangely relaxing.

How contradictive can I be =.=

Kano seemed to be finished with his thinking. It's gonna be another cheesy line won't it?

Suddenly, he moved his arms away from me, removing my source of support.

I had been holding on to his arms like an eagle sitting on its trainers glove.

Before I could continue with that line of thought, he pulled me into a hug and whispered, "I will take care of you. You don't need to be tough all the time okay?

When you are with your sisters, I'm sure you are an excellent role model and are a pillar of support.

But when you are with me, you don't need to keep up that tough facade. Just be yourself."

I nodded into his shoulder. This is a good answer.

Now I'm sure I liked him a little more than a bit.

Maybe a lot more.

After a few more seconds, he separated. And took my injured hand in his.

The blood had dried up by now and his makeshift bandage that I neglected to mention earlier was soaked with blood.

Why didn't I mention it? Well, it wasn't nessasary.

"Come on Suzushina-san, I'll bring you over to my place. Its five minutes away from here."

This is his home? A two room flat?

"Hehe... Sorry about the mess. I didn't think that anyone would be coming over..." He moved a chair from the dining table and adjusted it for me to sit.

"I'll get some bandages" he finished and disappeared into a room.

His house looked rather run down. The living room was combined with the kitchen and there were two rooms.

The living area had a tiny, box television and a beanbag cushion and a rocking chair with a tiny coffee table was set opposite it.

There was a picture of an old, smiling man with grey hair and a short beard smiling. A cup of water was set beside it.

Probably an old family member...

Now that I mention it, I haven't seen Kano's parents.

Kano reappeared from the room with a roll of bandages in one hand and a small basin filled with a pair of scissors and some anti-sceptic thingy. I had no idea what it was.

He filled the basin with warm water and started to work on my hand.

"This feels... Weird..."

"Hmm?" He said... Not really said but you get the idea... As he continued to clean my hand.

Good thing I had a high pain tolerance.

"This is gonna hurt by the way."

Eh?

He picked up the spray and opened the cap. He poured some of its contents onto a wet handkerchief and passed me a pillow to bite on.

"Nahh. I don't need it." I was rather proud of myself.

He sniggered and pressed rubbed the cloth on my hand.

I would now like to remove my earlier statement about my high pain tolerance.

* * *

"Yeah I'm fine mom. Yeah. Mmhmm... My phone was dead. I went to a friend's house to charge it. Mmhmm. Yeah... Worst wants to come pick me?! No thanks. I can make my way back on my own. Yeah... Okay... Bye!"

I sighed as I ended my call to my worried parents.

Kano was standing by the stove cooking noodles and still trying to stifle his laughter.

"What's so funny Kano?"

"Well... Heh. I liked how you said you had a high pain tolerance."

I started to blush.

"I DO!"

"But you screamed like... Hahahah... You screamed like a banshee! HAHAHAHA"

I'm never gonna live this down am I?

Haiz.

"Okay! Foods done." Kano slid a bowl of noodles with some random stuff thrown in.

It looked scary.

"Whats this?"

It was dry noodles, with some weird looking vegetables and egg and meat?

"Noodles, cabbage, egg, spinach, and some chicken cubes from last night."

It was just as disgusting as it sounded.

He grinned. "Just try it! Touma and the others love it. His sister Index comes over when she's free just to eat this."

Begrudginy, I forced myself to pick up some of it with my chopsticks. I made a face and glanced at him to make sure that it was edible.

He was fully engrossed with his food and didn't bother looking at me.

What did you expect him to do? Smile and say 'go on!'?

I gulped and ate a mouthful.

This is good. Surprisingly.

He was staring at me now and grinning. "Good eh?"

I glared at him and forced out a compliment.

"It's... Nice."

"Hahahah there you go! The wonders of using nearly expired food. I learnt the skill from Touma and modified it with some fresh things to make it taste better."

He seems rather proud of himself. Good for him.

* * *

"You'd better stop here. I don't want my family to know I was staying with a boy."

"Sure! No problem. Bye!"

"Bye."

Kano had accompanied me to the park near my home like last time.

Without any drama this time if you were wondering.

I looked at his disappearing figure and smiled.

I was looking forward for tomorrow.

We were going to watch his childhood friend Uomi's match. He was pretty excited about it so I guess it would be an exciting match.

=======Five minutes later=======

"I'm home..."

Eh?

When I had opened the main door, an amusing sight welcomed me.

Worst and Last Order were lying on the floor, sleeping while the twins were leaning on each other while sitting upright and were also sleeping.

Had they stayed up late just to wait for me to come home?

"Yuri, where have you been? Look at your sisters. They were waiting for you since eight!" My father whispered loudly while scratching the piercing on this cheek.

My mom dismissed him with a wave of her hand and picked up Last Order who was sleeping on Worst.

"Shiage, help me get them to their rooms. Yuriko. Take a bath and go to sleep too."

I smiled gratefully for her help and was responded by a sleepy smile from her.

Rushing to my room, I flopped onto my bunk bed and lay down, memories from earlier still running through my mind like a movie.

I still didn't believe that they were actually real...

Until I hit my bandaged hand on the wall when I swung my arms around in a bid to adjust myself. The throbbing pain ran through my arm as if to tell me that those memories were real.

I looked around the room while adjusting myself with my arms into a more comfortable position.

Worst's bunk bed was surprisingly clean. No dirty clothes on it. Normally, her old clothes and underwear would be arranged in a nest on her bed. Mikoto and Misaka shared the top bunk and it was converted into a mini Gekota land. Last Order often joined them to play with the plush toys.

It's nice to see that everything else was going on like normal despite the mess that was my head having all kinds of problems.

My thoughts were interrupted when my door burst open and my mom placed Last Order on the bunk above mine and my father pulled Worst to hers opposite mine.

Misaka and Mikoto groggily pulled themselves into the room, mumbling a 'You're finally home Onee-chan' and 'goodnight' to us as they flopped on their bed.

"Night girls." "Love you." My parents closed the door slowly.

I smiled and returned the gesture. "Love you Dad... Mom..."

They smiled left the room to go to sleep as well.

After a minute or so, I too, fell asleep.

* * *

A.N. weeeee I had a performance yesterday and I was so hyped that I couldn't sleep so I wrote this through the night. and I edited and posted it today XD

I tried to make it as emotional as I could... I dunno if I did it well. And as the past few chapters were about Yuriko and Kano becoming friends, I wanted Yuriko to break out of her shell to show her caring side (hence the story name) to Kano. Don't worry, she will still be her usual snarky self when in public but when she gets some private time with Kano... Heheheh.

I hope you guys liked it and I hope to get some feedback. Be it positive or negative. I like both. They help me improve. Except flames. I hate them.

I may try to write a lemon in the future...? Maybe after chapter ten or something. I'm not sure. It will be published as a separate story though. I don't wanna change this story's rating.

Plus, my sister also told me that after I'm done with this story, I should make another version. Pretty much a GIANT one shot which is a compilation of ALL the chapters which will be re-written for quality purposes. But it wont happen soon cos I'm sure it will be a while before I finish this story and a longer while till my writing improves.

Sooooo yeah! Thanks for reading through my A.N. and my story and I hope any if you readers will review or fav or follow. It's a huge morale boost =D


	10. Chapter 9

Chapter 9  
Nagatenjouki Destroyer #01 - V.C.

Haifuri battleship competition semi-finals. Nagatenjouki, eight ships, versus Tokiwadai, five ships.

Objective is to immobilize enemy flagship.

Nunotaba Shinobu

"Firing main batteries at starboard side in THREE! TWO! ONE!"

*boom* *boom* *boom* *boom*

Four incredibly loud shots rang out. A slight rocking could be felt here in the bridge.

*BOOM*

One secondary explosion could be heard... Only one shot landed.

We will have to turn and prepare another volley I guess.

"White flag is displayed. Enemy destroyer immobilized." My intercom crackled.

Eh? Lucky.

I kept silent. The crew should not know how I felt. Maybe except for Febri and Janie.

Now... We have taken out four of Tokiwadai's ships. Where is that girl's ship.

* * *

Tokiwadai Destroyer #01 - Railgun

Haifuri battleship competition finals. Nagatenjouki versus Tokiwadai.

Objective is to immobilize enemy flagship.

Suzushina Mikoto

Crap. All our ships were down.

I hope Misaka can pull off a win.

She's an amazing captain. It was almost as if she had some kind of mental link with the entirety of the bridge crew when they wore those goggles.

What kind of idea was that? What would they call the network? The Misaka network?

I slapped my cheek softly and shook away those ridiculous ideas.

As the gunner for the ship's railgun, I could not afford to be distracted.

In Haifuri competitions, only Destroyer class vessels were used. After all, if a school popped up with a Battleship or Cruiser, it would be far too big to be crewed by just students. And one Battleship could take on four or more Destroyers and win.

But they hadn't imposed any rules on modifying ships.

Most schools just added extra gun batteries, torpedo tubes or even modified flak guns to shoot down ememy shells.

Ours added a railgun.

A high velocity electromagnetic accelerator cannon.

Because of safety precautions, the railgun is only allowed to fire arcade coin sized tungsten rounds.

Though each round is relatively tiny compared to a ship, the round has a range of half a kilometer before melting from the immense heat caused by friction and air resistance. And with an initial velocity of Mach 10, one round is all it takes to immobilize an enemy.

Once, we had fired a shot at the rudder of an enemy ship.

The back of the ship left the water's surface and flew up into the air for a whole three seconds. It had took so much damage that the Academy City Five-Over Case Seven, a GIANT flying fortress that over watched all Haifuri matches had to personally step in and save the ship from sinking.

The Five-Over was shaped kind of like a UFO, but with cranes sticking up from the top... Now that I think about it, it's more like a flying oil rig. And being almost two kilometers long and one kilometer thick, it sometimes carried Objects (A.N. from another Kamachi-senpai book, Heavy Object) that were modified for peaceful use.

But I had no idea how it floated... It's almost as if it was done by some unexplainable power. There were no visible propulsion devices or even the hum of electromagnetic levitators.

Well, it was modelled after the legendary Attack Crash. A boy that could wield amazing but unexplainable powers and even had a legend that he caught a railgun with his teeth.

But that's nothing more than a story...

Oh shit! I was dreaming again!

I looked around, I was alone in the railgun turret… Then again, there weren't many people in the ship. Most of the ship was now automated because only the radio, weapons, medical, radar, crows nest and bridge crew were needed... Pretty much the whole crew except the cooking crew.

Instead of the usual thirty three people need to crew the ship, only twenty were used. Five for the bridge crew, two for torpedoes, two for the main cannons, me for the railgun, six for the boiler and engine rooms, one for the medical, another for the crows' nest and two more for the radio and sonar.

(A.N. Im not sure I covered all the required positions needed to crew an actual ship, but if you feel anything is amiss, just pretend it's automated by the amazing Academy City tech.)

My earpiece responded to my earlier question. "Railgun, we are now going to do some tough maneuvering while charging to the enemy flag ship. We are going to orient you straight at its stern so follow my instructions carefully."

I grinned. This was a fun challenge. As the student with the highest hit rate of 97% and a kill count of 16, I was aptly titled the Electric Princess. I had a reputation to maintain.

"No problem with that! Misaka! Good luck!" I cheered for my twin in the bridge. If we won, it would be a miracle.

"Thank you Onee-san. I will do my best." And with that, my earpiece returned to silence.

I thought for a moment. We had ran away from the enemy about ten minutes ago... And the Harekaze had gone to buy us time against their remaining five ships and lasted for about three minutes. So if we don't move, they would be thirteen minutes away... And since Misaka is charging, we have about five minutes before we encounter them...

Oh yeah! I'd better explain what happened earlier that got us into this situation.

* * *

Twenty five minutes ago

Suzushina Misaka. Bridge.

The enemy outnumbers us by three... But their upgrades are almost identical. The seven escort ships all have an extra cannon from the usual three while the flagship had a flak gun plus four cannons.

Our ships were much, much more varied.

The Yuudachi has only one cannon but has something most others don't have. Torpedoes. She had around fifteen of them. More than enough to take out three enemies.

Harekaze had a smoke bomb launcher. Essentially a catapult for a land to air middle that spewed smoke.

And the Pyonko and Gekota have a flak gun and an additional cannon respectively. By the way, those two childishly named ships were named by Mikoto.

I had chosen the names 'Musashi' and Hiei' but I was dismissed as I had already named two of our five ships and those names were names of larger ships that were not Destroyers. Pity...

I picked up Dog, my cat from the table beside me. I always brought her along for missions. She helped get rid of rats on the ship. Though I did get picked upon for naming my cat 'Dog'... Though I can't understand why.

As for this ship, the Railgun, it was decided by the entire team that it should be named after its signature weapon.

The railgun.

We had actually sold one of our Destroyers to buy that weapon. The crew of that ship were all graduating so it would not be used anyway. The crew and I could not understand why they were so angry.

Though they were not angry anymore after seeing the weapon. Heheheh.

Ahem... Back to business. Mikoto and I had this bad habit of going on and on in our own thoughts.

I glanced at the bridge crew. They all wore the new type electron NV goggles. Each piece of eyewear connected to each other and we could see what each other saw, greatly improving our synchronization.

A good example of this would be our torpedo commander, 19090, knowing where to aim even before I told her and could fire at the exact moment I told her to give the order.

Oh yes. Our bridge crew called each other by code names when we were alone with each other. We were very close, almost like sisters.

10031 was our main radio operator that took calls and gave instructions from and to the secondary operator who would broadcast messages to the whole ship, call or answer incoming calls from other ships, and can contact the Five-Over that acted as a security guard.

19090, as you know was the torpedo in-charge that gave orders to the girls controlling the torpedo tubes orders. She also doubled as the secondary gunnery officer when all four torpedoes were expended.

The main gunnery officer who gave orders to the main cannons and the railgun was 10039.

And the vice-captain who doubled as helmsman because I didn't really need a vice-captain was 13577.

I do not intend to tell you their names because they treasure their privacy but I can say that they are quadruplets with the surname Misaka. Like my given name. They also had their hair styled like mine but was colored a natural black with a different color highlight for each of them to help people tell them apart.

Then I noticed something behind a nearby sargasso. As we were off the coast of Tokyo, there many of these wreckages.

There was a legend that in the past, a great woman had achieved godhood here and became a Magic God on one of these sargassos.

But now was not the time for these thoughts.

Why? Because there was a Destroyer poking it's front cannon from behind one of those sargassos.

Even before I could say something, 10031 had already seen what I saw via the goggles and broadcasted to the fleet that we had been ambushed... Technically she didn't do it. It was the secondary radio operator but for the sake of simplicity I will just say it was her.

Setting Dog on the table, I told 13577 to take evasive maneuvers and had told the Pyonko to fire her flak guns. The captain of the Pyonko, Shirai Kuroko squealed in happiness and said something about making Mikoto Onee-chan happy with her efficiency...

And was promptly hit by three cannons from the enemy because she didn't give the order to fire and was squealing in happiness instead. Why do I even have friends like her? She was so unreliable sometimes...

In the end, only three of us, the Harekaze and the Yuudachi had escaped. The Gekota was taken out by eating a shot to the bow for us. I had to thank them later.

We had managed to take out one of them for two of ours. Horrible trade.

Five minutes later, we realized that the extra gun was not the only modification Nagatenjouki ships had. Our sonar officer had noticed that their ships had four propellers instead of the normal two and had caught up to use despite the Yuudachi destroying a few sargassos to block their path.

Then the event that was later broadcasted to the world as the play of the tournament occurred.

* * *

"Yuudachi... What are you doing..."

The Yuudachi was turning away from our formation and was starting to charge at the seven enemies.

"10031, tell them to come back now."

"Hai."

I could hear what the secondary radio operator was saying since 10031 had put the bridge radio on loudspeaker. "Secondary, message to Yuudachi. 'Return to formation immediately.' Over."

Almost instantly, the operator relayed the Yuudachi's reply, "Primary, message from Yuudachi. 'Run. Use your railgun to fuck them up later.' Over."

I frowned at the use of that word. I had to have a word with the captain of that ship, Lessar, later.

But I accepted their sacrifice and told the Harekaze to join us full speed to another field of sargassos.

Then I heard several explosions from behind us. I nodded to my crew to take care of themselves and ran out to see what happened. They could see what I saw so they were not really pressured to go see for themselves.

I was greeted with a most amazing sight.

The Yuudachi had charged into one enemy ship and fired all her torpedoes at the enemy, severely damaging three and eliminating two.

I had better praise Lessar later.

Not long later, the Harekaze had also sacrificed herself so that we could get into a more favourable position.

~~~~~~~~~Mikoto~~~~~~~~~

So that's pretty much all I heard about what happened from Misaka when she called me by her cell phone earlier to explain what happened.

I HAVE to watch a replay of that.

The ship started to turn in various directions and dull explosions, vibrations and the crash of waves hitting our ship could be heard.

Next our two main cannons started firing as fast as they could. And the familiar 'ptumph' sound of a torpedo launching from the exposed ports echoed in my turret room.

When will my turn come?!

As if in response to my question, my earpiece crackled. "Turn railgun turret to eighty degrees port side and fire in three seconds."

Heh. The fun begins.

ONE. I rotated the turret. Good thing Academy City had increased turning speeds.

TWO. I looked through the periscope. It had horrible visibility. But as long as the angle given to me by the gunnery officer was correct, it would be a definite hit. The turret was still moving... Seventy eight degrees now...

THREE. The earpiece screamed "UTE!" I grinned. The bridge crew would never shout but the ever friendly Saten-san would get really emotional when an important shot came. The ship I was gunning probably was the enemy flagship.

I pulled the trigger... It was big enough to be called a lever but it was still called a trigger. The creators must have been very afraid that a misfire would occur and installed such a hard to fire trigger. Look at those normal turret ones, they were like tank triggers. Everything else was mechanized.

Sometimes I wish I was in a poorer school that did Senshadou. I found it more exciting that this. Not to say that Haifuri wasn't exciting.

I pulled till the trigger activated. A short, split second 'zzzz' followed by an incredible 'BOOM' followed almost instantly by nine smaller 'boom's that signified each time the round exceeded the speed of sound.

The recoil from the shot sent the ship tilting to its side. And the shockwave rattled everyone in the ship. As the person closest to it, every bone in my body was rattled and my muscles did not want to move.

But this was why I loved every second of firing the railgun.

~~~~~~~~~~Misaka~~~~~~~~

The railgun fired.

The ship rocked backwards.

If a single shot hit us before we tilted back to normal position now, we would capsize for sure. Luckily, none did.

Thank god Worst had sponsored us with these handy earplugs from Academy City. They were like hearing aids but looked a lot cooler. And they allowed us to hear normally unless a sound that was loud enough to damage one's hearing was detected.

Back to the railgun shot.

It tore through the air, an orange-red line following the tungsten round as a visible shockwave came off as a circular explosion behind it every time it exceeded the speed of sound.

It hit the tip of the bow of the enemy flag ship. The entire front half of the ship flew out of the water and spun in a circle three times before the Five-Over intervened and caught it in some kind of electromagnetic field before it slammed into a sargasso.

Tokiwadai won. Again. Heh. We're being carried by this railgun. It's already gotten us three wins... Though my tactic to charge in like the Yuudachi was what allowed us to get the shot in.

Hehehehe. Worst must be proud.

~~~~~~~~Worst~~~~~~~~~~~

AAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHA! OH. MY GOD! I NEVER THOUGHT MISAKA WOULD DO THAT!

Some nearby spectators were looking at me weirdly but most were cheering madly.

We were watching the match live from stadium four and even though they were almost thirty kilometers away from here, the sound from that railgun could be heard rather clearly from here. Good thing I managed to snag some of those bionic earplugs for Mikoto and her crew. They would be deaf by now of they didn't have them.

Praise be to Academy City tech.

~~~~~~~~~~Kano~~~~~~~~~~

Ugh... The afternoon sun is horrible. Yuriko was smart to bring her umbrella. All I had was my cap.

I was with Yuriko watching Uomi and rest of Keizoku Girls's match with Pravda. Apparently, Touma, Fukiyose and Tsuchimikado had come just for her but we're sitting in a nearby restaurant and would come and join us later at three.

The match was being held in Stadium One. Which was only used for Championship matches. This was the quarter finals. Ten versus ten tanks. In desert terrain.

Keizoku is gonna have a tough time. They specialized in winter and snow terrain and they had no set country where they got their tanks from.

For example, Saunders high in Japan was affiliated with Saunders University in the Americas so most of their tanks were American tanks such as Shermans and Pershings.

However, Keizoku was one of the few schools like Ooarai that did not exclusively use tanks from one country and unlike Ooarai, many if their tanks were modified in unbelievable ways.

The arena was massive. It is a forty by sixty kilometers large rectangle with four different terrains - Snow down, desert, jungle and open plains. The match had started an hour ago but the arena was so massive that the were not even in sight of each other.

As I explained all this to Yuriko who was rather new to this and seemed very interested, a loud 'boom' cut through the noise of the crowd.

"What the... None of the tanks fired right?"

I frowned. That was far too loud for a tank... And that sounded more like a jet plane reaching Mach speed than a tank.

Then I remembered to the Haifuri competitions were going on. And today was Tokiwadai against Nagatenjouki.

And Tokiwadai was known for one thing... Okay two things.

One was the Queen of Tokiwadai, Shokuhou Misaki, one of the most beautiful girls in the education system. Though I always felt that her bust was far too large for my liking.

The second thing was the Ace of Tokiwadai. It was the unofficial title for one of the most well known Destroyers in Haifuri recent Haifuri competitions. The modified Destroyer that was named after the weapon that it wielded.

The Railgun.

"It's probably Tokiwadai's flagship. The Railgun."

"Tokiwadai?" Yuriko seemed surprised.

"Yeah. Their flagship has this large railgun they added to it. One shot, even if it barely hits an enemy, can immobilize it." I fiddled with my phone. Trying to find out what happened. "Ah! There it is!"

It was a cut-out from the live broadcast of the match.

The Railgun had fired it's signature weapon thirty kilometers away just four minutes ago and the sound of the shot had only just reached here.

The video showed the Railgun turning around one of the Nagatenjouki ships and almost plowing into another one before suddenly turning and firing it's railgun and the enemy flagship.

A girl with light brown hair climbed out of the railgun turret and started jumping in joy. The words 'Tokiwadai's Electric Princess' superinposed on top.

I heard Yuriko gasp. "That's... Mikoto... My imouto..."

I stared at her incredulously. "You didn't know that your sister is a celebrity in the Haifuri scene?"

She shook her head. "I never had much interest in these things before I met you."

I blushed. It was the first time someone had said something like that to me. Even Uomi hadn't said anything relatively close to that to me. Yuriko seemed to be blushing slightly too.

"Well then," I grinned. "Let's get you more interested."

* * *

Its been an hour since the railgun shot and the crowd has lost most of its enthusiasm waiting for Pravda to attack Keizoku despite having multiple chances to.

"So... Pravda is intending on surrounding Keizoku?"

"Mmhmm... Keizoku is rather bad in this terrain. They work better in the snow. Most of the students there hate the heat too. Pravda likes double encirclements and baits."

She nodded and frowned. From the two matches I watched with Yuriko, she often spent her time watching them in silence. As if she was thinking of tactics for the team she was supporting to win.

~~~~~~~~~Uomi~~~~~~~~~~

Ugh... This heat is... Horrible.

"How long more till Pravda shows up? I bet we would have died of a stroke by the time they attack." My tank's commander complained as she wiped a layer of sweat off her brow.

"Well, Pravda is used to fighting in the snow as well so we should be on even ground..." I tried to console her with a little lie. Pravda did some of their training in Russia as they were affiliated with the country because many of the students are children of Russian immigrants.

And Russia was known for its varied landscapes of hills, forests, deserts, mountains and more.

They definitely had the upper hand.

And their commander was known for being rather cruel when she knew she had the upper hand...

~~~Nonna. Pravda's second in command~~~

"Nonna! I want to take a nap. Keep them in that position till they surrender. And if they try anything like Miho-sha, snipe their flag tank." Katyusha declared from the radio.

"Katyusha-sama, are you sure you want to take a nap in this heat? It may be artificial but Academy City has done a great job with that artificial sun. The tanks may become ovens soon." I tried to get her back to task but…

"Nonna! I trust you. And I'm just sleepy. Maybe you can just snipe them now."

Klara pitched in to help me. "Katyusha-sama," this one of the rare times she spoke in Japanese. "I do not think even Nonna can snipe them from three kilometers away. Think about Nina in the KV-2! They must be in unbearable heat."

~~~~~~~~Nina~~~~~~~~~

Sooooo…. Hot…. Can that commander be quick with this match?

~~~~~~~Nonna~~~~~~~~

I agreed with Klara. The most effective way to get our commander to do something was to tell her than her precious KV-tan was in trouble. She loved that tank so much that she used it in all her matches despite it never working out for the team. Not that the crew was bad. Its just the KV-2 being too large, cumbersome and unwieldy in most tank battles.

"Katyusha-sama. The enemy is going to reach our T-thirty-fours in one minute."

Katyusha's angry squeal could be heard on the radio.

She might be incredibly short and suffered a bad case of Napoleonism and often abused her underlings and enemies. But Katyusha was a great commander that secretly loves and cares for her whole team. Though her methods were questionable.

"Ugh. Fine! Nina, stay behind Nonna and fire at the enemy as fast as you can. Nonna snipe them one by one." This was where Katyusha shone. Her tactics were unbeatable by most and the only times she had been beaten was when the Keizoku tanks completely outclassed ours in the snow, as well as Maho and Miho Nishizumi beating us multiple times in a row. "Flag tank! Hide behind my beloved KV-tan and the rest of you come with me. You two T-thirty-fours in the front, bait them back to Nonna and we will come and surround them. Hehehe this is when they will feel the great might of Katyshua-sama!"

We promptly won that match.

Though Mika-san and her B-42 gave us a ton of trouble… That modified tank should not even be legal! What kind of tank moves faster without treads than with treads!

~~~~~~~Yuriko~~~~~~~

"Did ya enjoy your match Uomi?"

"Not really. I hate the heat"

The match had ended rather early and Uomi had been dismissed at four after all the congratulations, paperwork, debriefing and sending her tank off to maintenance, she had joined Kano and I and now we had just met up with the other three.

"Huh… that's sad." Tsuchimikado seemed to be glancing at me a lot today… "Oi Suzu-chan! You seem rather close to Kano-dono today. Did something happen?" He was grinning madly. Touma wanted to join in too but was held back by glares from both Uomi and Fukiyose.

"Nothing happened Tsuchi. Right? Suzushina-san." Kano smiled at me and we shared a hidden laugh.

I smirked and agreed with him. Leaving Tsuchimikado down in the dumps.

We eventually decided to eat in a nearby family restaurant and most of the conversation was about Uomi complaining about her match. She was a really nice girl to be honest.

* * *

Its eleven… Kano was sitting beside me on the train home and was half asleep. Touma and Fukiyose had their parents pick them up while Tsuchimikado disappeared mysteriously at ten after paying for our entire dinner bill. Uomi had gone back with her school. My relations with Kano's close friends were getting better and they accepted me as one of them. Now it was me who hadn't accepted them and continued to keep a distance.

I sighed and looked at Kano's sleeping face. He was almost leaning on me. And he was kinda cute when he was like this. I was then struck by a sudden case of giggles which woke him up.

He grinned at my horrified expression and adjusted his posture. Most of our time was spent in comfortable silence.

We skipped his station and we went to mine. He walked me to the park as usual. It almost routine by now… Hahahaha! I never thought that having a guy walk me home would one day be routine. And as if I was possessed by something, I said something that was kinda awkward for him.

"Hey Kano."

"Hmm?"

We entered the park.

"Can I erm… call you by your… first name? And you can call me by mine of course…" I trailed off as I mentally slapped myself.

He seemed hesitant. His face contorting from a calm and happy expression to a surprised one, then to an awkward one and now he made an embarrassed face with his face flushed red.

We continued to walk in silence. He didn't say a word other than his goodbyes. And left me alone wondering if I messed up.

* * *

'How could you say that Yuriko?!' I thought to myself as I sat in my bath. I slammed the back of my head on the wall, inducing a piercing pain that would mark the beginnings of a horrible headache.

What I said was what people said when confessing… UGHH! He must have thought that way too. I had just felt so calm with him that I saw him like a brother that I never had.

*bzzt* My phone on the table beside the bathtub vibrated. The words 'Message received' followed by 'Kano' appeared on the screen.

I took a deep breath and prepared for the worst.

'Hey Suzu-chan. Im sorry if I caused you any trouble. I was kinda surprised and didn't know how to respond. So yeah! I don't mind! I get to call you Yuriko too! See you tomorrow! =D'

I sighed in relief.

"ONEE-CHAN! YOUV'E BEEN IN THERE FOR ALMOST AN HOUR! CAN YOU GET OUT NOW?!" Mikoto was screaming at me.

"MANAMI AGREES THAT YOU HAVE BEEN IN THERE FOR FAR TOO LONG MANAMI SAYS AS SHE WANTS TO USE THE BATHROOM AS WELL!" Even Last Order was in on it.

"I ALSO GOTTA SHOW YOU GUYS THE RECORDING OF TOKIWADAI'S MATCH! WE ARE ALL WAITING FOR YOU SO WE CAN START WATCHING!" Worst was in on it for a totally different reason.

This is why I love my sisters.

* * *

A.N. WEEEE I had a lot of fun writing this and I hope you guys enjoy it. Its not amazing but I pray its decent =D and this is also a filler. I intend to skip a few days and then develop the Kano-Yuriko thingy and thennnnn... who knows? the way I write is dependant. on what interests me and is more spur of the moment than anything. Plus, I had swapped the genders for the cliché embarrassed guy and girl... well. to me its switched. it may not be to you guys XD

MarkJ: THANKS A BUNCH! Hehe I hope you like this one too!

Once again, reviews are loved. pls send me some for improvement. and faves and follows are like... finding diamonds while walking in a cave.

Thanks for reading and... uhhh... see you guys? I guess? XD HOPE YOU GUYS ENJOYED READING!


	11. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Suzushina Yuriko.

'Diary entry #04. Dear diary,'

Err... I'm still not really sure how to start this... But this is just for fun I guess. No need to be serious... Why am I still writing this?! I thought I gave up last night! Ahh. I'll just think of something...

'It's been a fun day.'

Yeah that should be alright.

'School restarts again tomorrow. And I really dread going...but at least Ka-'

Ughhh it's so hard to get used to calling Kano by his given name… Well typing. I had no problems SAYING his name but typing it out still felt weird since 'Kano' is so much easier to type than 'Haimura'... Even though it was my idea to call each other by our given names when we were alone together. But at least he DID say that he liked my name.

A blush spread across my cheeks, but I shook it away as quickly as I could. I was typing my diary out on my phone and I could not afford to let my sisters know what I was doing.

It's bad enough that I allowed the misconception of Haimura being my boyfriend appear in the first place and if they saw me blushing and typing on my phone, more teasing would come.

I resumed typing.

'At least Haimura would be in school. It's been so long since I had an actual friend in school. I think it IS my first time.' I smiled softly.

If I didn't count that playboy Amata as a friend, Haimura really was my first friend.

Apart from my sisters of course.

And from these past few days, I had become not-so-close but kind of close friends with Uomi and Fukiyose. I don't know why everyone called Uomi by her given name instead of 'Misaki' which was her surname... It does have a rather nice ring to it.

Touma and Tsuchimikado were a little like younger male versions of Worst. So they remained as acquaintances. Nothing more, nothing less. I already had enough of Worst. I do not need two more amateur versions of her annoying me throughout the day.

My fingers flew across the keyboard, 'I'm really not sure what else to type but I CAN say I really enjoyed lunch with Haimura and Tsuchimikado today. Mexican food is surprisingly good! I have to bring the girls over next time.'

I had gone to some Mexican restaurant today with Haimura and Tsuchimikado this afternoon after reaching the stadium and realizing that there were no matches and it was only the prize giving ceremony.

For Senshadou, Kuromorimine had won... Again. Reclaiming their postion as champion. According to Haimura of course. I had no prior knowledge of all this. But we didn't really watch it. The prize giving ceremony I mean. He had told me that the prize presentation for Haifuri was on so we had gone to see my sister Misaka accept the prize and the crew of the Yuudachi receive a medal called 'Play of the Year' or something.

Then Tsuchimikado had told us of some 'amazing' place. So we went to eat at that restaurant.

I stopped typing and thought for a short moment about what to type. There wasn't anything else that was deserving to be put in my diary.

Nothing left I guess. I saved the entry and closed the app, shutting off the screen.

The idea to write the diary had actually come from Touma. During the lunch... More like dinner because it was at 5 p.m., with Uomi after her match against Pravda, they four of them and I had gone to a nearby cafe to eat.

As they talked about their lives and experiences and caught up with each other in general, I had felt like a third? No... More like fifth wheel in the conversation and kept silent. However, Haimura and Uomi had noticed and started to change the topic so that I could join in.

That's how I got Uomi's number and got to be friends with her. Which seemed to make Tsuchimikado and Touma pretty much sore and jealous since they had known me for much longer compared to her and still hadn't gotten close to me. Not that I would let them.

Partway into the conversation, Touma had started complaining that they had so many fun experiences but they were so hazy since they were from three years ago... Or more and that many of them had either merged or faded and was lamenting the fact saying, "Ah I wish we kept diaries. Since our memory is so horrible and I really miss those times."

It probably didn't have any meaning to it but to me and my truly horrible memory, I made it a point to start writing so that in case I forgot any of the things that I had done with Haimura, I could just remind myself... My memories of how we met were already kinda sketchy.

And my memories of my time in Nagatenjouki were almost gone. I only knew about it because of the facts Worst had told me. And there was just this nagging hate that I felt when the name 'Kihara Amata' cropped up.

'I must have really hated Kihara.' I thought back then. Turns out I was right. After Worst had recounted to me what had happened, I hated him all over again.

My phone buzzed, interrupting my negative thoughts. I had received a message from the group chat with Touma, Fukiyose, Uomi and the twins that Haimura added me to... Yes, when I say twins, I mean Misaka and Mikoto. But I'll explain why they were in the group later.

Tsuchimikado had sent a picture... It was from earlier this afternoon, after lunch. When we had finished our meal and were heading home, it started raining heavily.

In the beginning, Haimura would just hold an umbrella for me and we would walk separately. But after he noticed me stumble a couple of times, he had wrapped his arm left around my shoulders and got me to hold onto him as well. Essentially, we were huddled together under a small umbrella.

And Tsuchimikado had snapped a photo without us noticing.

Haimura was now arguing with Tsuchimikado in the chat... Hahaha!

Kano Haimura : 'TSUCHI! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!'

Tsuchimikado : 'Well, I shared a little something with everyone here. They deserve to know don't they?'

Touma poked his metaphorical nose in.

Kamijou Touma : 'Kano-dono! Even Seiri and I haven't done anything like that before! You are FAST!'

Kano Haimura : 'There's nothing going on!'

Even Fukiyose was enjoying this it seemed.

Fukiyose Seiri : 'Nothing going on for now am I rite? Touma, we should try something like that too!'

Hehehehe it was rather amusing watching them bicker. Without the noise.

"Onee-chan. Did you forget we are in there as well?"

Eh? Mikoto?

I turned, a blush quickly spreading on my face. Mikoto was pointing her camera at me and quickly snapped a photo of my blushing cheeks and sent it to the group, laughing all the while. Even Misaka was giggling quietly and reading the chat while sitting with Dog beside it's little tent.

The twins had met Haimura, Touma and I the day after their match against Nagatenjouki. They had gone to watch the Senshadou match that was going on since it was a rest day for them and found us.

In the beginning, they had both seemed rather fixated on Touma... I could see the appeal but he wasn't my type. He had the typical 'hero' look despite his surprisingly hyperactive attitude. After Fukiyose had joined us, at three and introduced herself as Touma's girlfriend... AHAHAHAHAH! You should have been able to see the looks of disappointment on their faces. But they all had become fast friends. Especially Mikoto and Touma as he quickly gave her the nickname 'biri-biri' because of her rather electric personality.

"Mikoto..." I growled and glared at her. She smiled and winked at me before running to our room and slamming the door shut with an audible locking sound from the absolutely useless lock on the door.

Even Last Order could force her way past the door if we locked it.

I felt compelled to give up my comfortable position on the sofa to attack her but decided not to when I saw my dad eying my spot. She could laugh all she wanted in the room for now, we would all have to go in and sleep later... And I could take my revenge.

I glanced at Misaka and she gave me a thumbs up and blew me a kiss with that expressionless expression of hers.

I groaned and looked at the picture Tsuchimikado again... I had to admit that it was really well taken.

Hesitantly, I set it as my wallpaper.

Heheheh... It's kinda cute.

"Girls. Time for bed. Go to sleep now!" My mom called out from the kitchen, "Where is Worst and Last Order?"

Huh. I just realized I hadn't seen them for quite a while.

"They should be upstairs in the game room." Misaka answered while playing with Dog.

"I'll go look for them..." I grumbled and got up from my position on the sofa which my dad happily claimed as his own and lay down like a model to watch the television which I neglected to mention because I wasn't watching.

As I climbed up the stairs, rather slowly mind you, I heard him yelp and my mom telling him to scoot over as she joined him on the sofa.

They really did act like a newly wedded couple whenever they were alone together.

Apparently, they met when my dad, Suzushina Shiage, went to Russia for a holiday with his old friend Mugino Shizuri or as we call her, Aunt Shizuri.

She worked in Academy City as a researcher on a variation of the massive topic of discussion that was the 'Electromaster' called the 'Meltdowner'. Some kind of application of the 'Electromaster' to be used as a devastating weapon. No one could have imagined that when they met her for the first time through. She looked more like a model than a scholar.

She told us that the Electromaster was some kind of implant that allowed people to interface with electronic objects. Though it seemed that she was hiding something.

I "can't" imagine why though. Academy has those 70 meter high walls and a private mechanized army that they parade around every year.

He had gone there for a holiday and met my mom, Takitsubo Rikou, who was a Russian citizen whose parents were both Japanese immigrants. Long story short, they got along well and she came back with him and got married.

I pulled myself up the stairs slowly... God I hated stairs. Good thing most my classes in school was on the first floor. And it had an elevator so I could access the rooms on the second or third floors whenever I needed to go up there.

When I was about to reach the top stair... My good leg decided not to work properly when I was using it to push myself up.

I felt weightless for a moment as I fell backwards.

'Well, Yuriko. You're screwed.' I thought to myself... It was the last thing I remembered before shouting "F*CK!" at the top of my lungs and hitting my head on something and blacking out.

This is the second damn time something like this happened.

Son of a bitch.

~~~~~~~~~Kano~~~~~~~~~~

All of us were in the hospital after school. Touma, Fukiyose and even Tsuchimikado were here in their school uniforms.

Suzushina-san... Mikoto had told us that Yuriko had gone to the hospital after falling down the stairs. She seemed to be really regretful about something as she wasn't her usual tomboyish self. When she saw us while waiting for us in the lobby.

When we entered the room, uhhh... A few other Suzushina-sans were here as well... Maybe more than a few.

There was Misaka who we met last week and Worst... I still don't know her real name... Maybe Yuriko told me before but I forgot.

As well as the one I had saw was about to be hit by that car a few months back. Everyone referred to her as 'Last Order'... This family had some really odd choices for nicknames.

Finally were her parents. I have no choice but to say this... But they looked nothing like her. A man with spiky dirty blond hair and a woman with short black hair wearing a dazed look.

If I were a stranger, I would have trouble knowing who was and was not family.

The room was fairly large, it was an L-shape with Yuriko sleeping in her bed in the middle and a pair of sofas on one side of the room and a few stools. There was also a toilet and a large, floor to ceiling window beside her bed.

(A.N. just imagine Touma-kun's hospital room in the anime but bigger. With sofas and a room for a toilet)

Misaka was sleeping facedown on Yuriko's bed while seated on a stool. Last Order was sleeping on Worst's lap, drool running down her chin as Worst herself was snoring on one of the sofas. Her parents were talking to a nurse.

We stood there in silence at first, not sure what to do as Mikoto led us into the room. She forced a thin smile and waved us in and gestured to the pile of stools. There were expecting guests it seemed.

"You guys can sit over there. Yuriko had woken up this morning at around six *yawn*" Mikoto yawned and rubbed her eyes that were developing dark bags, "in the morning and went back to sleep."

"Ano... Mikoto. When was the last time you slept?" Fukiyose asked, concern leaking into her normally strong voice.

"Err... Since last night? No... Last last night... Yesterday morning?" Mikoto replied-slash-answered-slash-questioned.

Fukiyose rushed over to her and hugged her. "Oh my, you must be worried sick!" At times like these, Fukiyose seemed like a mother... Which Touma seemed to be very happy about. "Go take a nap! Did you come here right after school? You're still wearing your uniform!"

"No... I didn't change yesterday... I wanted to bathe *yawn* just before sleeping but Onee-chan fell so I followed her here..." No wonder she seemed so lifeless.

Then Mikoto's parents came over, allowing the nurse to leave the room. "Who are you guys?" Her dad asked with a tired smile. Her mom looked like she was sleeping while standing with her eyes open.

"Ahh... These are Onee-chan's friends!" Mikoto introduced us with more energy, waking Misaka from her nap. We could see her visibly jolt awake. "This is Fukiyose-san, Kamijou-chan, Tsuchimikado-kun and Onee-chan's really close friend Kano-senpai." She pointed at us one by one. This was the first time she used honorifics for us.

It felt... So weird.

"And guys, these are my parents." Mikoto started to introduce them but her dad took over "Hi hi! Nice to meet you guys. I'm Suzushina Shiage and this is my wife…" the wife in question seemed to be sleeping while standing with her eyes open. He made an annoyed face and nudged her, waking her up from her sleep. "Suzushina Rikou."

"Mm.. Hi." She greeted us with a half-hearted wave. Might I remind you she was sleeping with her eyes open. WHILE STANDING!

Mikoto and her dad didn't seemed surprised though. It must be a common occurrence.

Tsuchimikado and Touma looked extremely impressed... Its not a good thing by the way.

"Erm... Do you have jobs?" Touma asked, rather rudely mind you. Though I must admit I was thinking the same thing.

"Yeah... We took the day off... *yawn*" He smiled and scratched his head. Looks like they didn't sleep as well.

We took our seats at the stools while Mikoto flopped onto Yuriko's bed and fell asleep. Fukiyose and Touma started talking to Yuriko's parents and Tsuchimikado was eyeing Worst's chest. Last Order had fallen off, causing one of her clothes buttons to open, exposing her bra. I could understand why he would stare.

She was wearing some kind of traditional outfit. Either a Chinese cheongsam or a Vietnamese Ao dai. I'm not sure which. Which was rather body fitting and she is rather well endowed.

I would have joined in the staring if not for a few reasons.

One, I was really concerned about Yuriko and was wondering about the consequences of her fall. Would she still be able to walk? Or would she be paralyzed? And to what extent?

Two, I was into smaller breasts and I had an affinity for Yuriko's pair. Despite how small they were.

Three, I could sense both of Misaka's envy and annoyance with Tsuchimikado for staring at her sister and being envious that her sister could invoke this reaction from a guy even when said sister was asleep.

I chuckled a little and brought my chair closer to the bed, allowing me to take a closer look at Yuriko. She seemed paler than usual...

"Hey... Kano was it? So you're the guy taking up Yuri's time huh." Yuriko's father called as he noticed me.

Oh shit...

"Ah..." I wasn't sure what to say.

He seemed to take it as a yes and said, "Thanks a bunch kid. Yuri has been smiling a lot more lately and it's good to see her out of the house more often during the holidays." He grinned and gave me a thumbs up.

Eh? No scolding?

"Haha... Thanks." I wasn't sure what to say and rubbed my neck. Thankfully, he was happy with my reaction and resumed his conversation with Touma and Fukiyose.

I stared at Yuriko's sleeping face. She should be peaceful, like when she was tired and fell asleep on my shoulder that one time. She looked like an angel back there. We were on the train home three days ago. Along the way, she had dozed off and started to lean on my shoulder. I had been nervous at first but then I heard her snoring lightly. Her face was calm and delicate, the harsh light of the train cabin managing to look soft on her features.

But now, under the soft light of the hospital ceiling lights, she looked troubled and scared. There was even a trace of anger and frustration from the small frown on her eyebrows and her lips pulled into a tight line.

It felt horrible to see her like this.

I sat there for an hour. Eventually, everyone had gone to sleep. The twins sleeping on the bed, Worst and Last Order still on that couch, Yuriko's parents leaning on each other, Fukiyose sleeping on the floor with Touma, her head on his lap and Tsuchi sleeping on the stools after arranging the unused stools into a bed.

After another thirty minutes, I fell asleep as well.

~~~~~~~~~Touma~~~~~~~~~

I opened one of my eyes and peeked around the room. From the window opposite me, the sun was setting.

Everyone was sleeping. Even Kano-dono. He was sleeping while holding one of Suzu-chan's hands and with his head on her shoulder while still on that stool of his.

It's kinda worrying seeing him like this... He hasn't looked this worried about anything before. He did show it but he looked restless in school. Barely talking and laughing. When school had ended, we had to run after him when he exploded out of class to run out to the bus station.

He didn't look this bad even during and after the Uomi incident. Instead of sadness and emptiness in his eyes, there was fear and panic...

Yuriko... You better wake up soon… Nahh I'm sure you will.

~~~~~~~~~Yuriko~~~~~~~~~~

Ugh... That felt... I want to say horrible but I didn't really feel anything.

Like... Seriously. I could not see anything from my waist downwards. Maybe a little higher... What do you call that thing just below your shoulder blades? Mid-back? Where's that damn doctor when you need him.

I cursed into the air. My head could barely move and I was effectively immobile. Then I felt something move around my right shoulder. I moved my arm slightly to try to get whatever was there to move. It was probably just one of my sisters. They always did things like these whenever I got into trouble.

A groan. The person had woken up! It sounded like a guy though...

I moved my eyes to look at who it was.

~~~~~~~~~~Kano~~~~~~~~~

Ugh... Why is this pillow moving...

I forced my eyes open. I saw abnormally white sheets. And an abnormally white hand along with the arm it was attached to of course. What did you think it was? A decapitated hand?

I lifted my head and quickly remembered that I was in the hospital to visit Yuriko. She was awake and glancing at me from the corner of her eye, seemingly trying to get her body to move.

Then she noticed me.

She made a slight gasp and started blushing lightly. "What are you doing here?" She whispered, moving her eyes around while looking like she was about to cry. Her eyes were moist.

"Mikoto told us you fell so we came down the moment school ended." I smiled reassuringly and continued, "Everyone is here, your family, Fukiyose, Touma, Tsuchi. We're all here... They're all sleeping though. Your family stayed up all night waiting for you to wake up. Especially Mikoto."

A tear ran down her cheek. And she smiled. The first smile she gave me that did not have any sign of distraction or conflicting emotions.

Just plain happiness.

I smiled as well and helped her adjust her body into a more comfortable position and made the bed rise into a sitting position.

"I can't feel my legs..." She whispered as I lifted her body to adjust her. "And I can barely move my upper body. Everything below my chest feels numb or I can't feel anything." She faltered through the last few words, as if she was about to cry.

It was understandable. Losing your freedom of movement in just a split-second. I can't say I knew how she feels, but I know I would cry as well if something like this happened to me.

"Well, don't worry about it. I said I'll take care of you remember? I don't just make promises for fun you know?" I smiled. Yuriko looked like she was about to say something when…

"Onee-chan? ONEE-CHAN!" Mikoto had woken up because she was sleeping on Yuriko's bed and could feel the movement of Yuriko's body and the bed.

Everyone else also woke up at the sound of her voice. And then I realized that my arms were still around Yuriko and her face was buried in my chest, giving the impression that we were hugging.

"Oh ho ho! Kano-dono!" Touma pushed the first domino.

You can imagine what happened next.

~~~~~~~~~~Yuriko~~~~~~~~~

It felt nice to be helped by Haimura. I wiped off my tears onto his shirt and took a few deep breaths to calm myself.

"Onee-chan? ONEE-CHAN!" Oh shit. Mikoto woke up? Haimura quickly moved away from me and returned to his seat.

A view of my entire family and my new friends greeted me.

"Oh ho ho! Kano-dono!" Touma grinned.

==Somewhere in Academy City===

A woman burst into an inconspicuous room with a large Golden Retriever trailing behind her.

"Chairman Aleistier, we have confirmed that esper abilities are impossible to achieve by anyone other than Gemstones. And that most of those that have gone through the programme just become smarter, faster and stronger physically and mentally. But the power of a Gemstone is impossible to extract and we need the user's cooperation to harness the power."

A man in a white shirt and a black blazer with long white hair that touched the floor stood in front of a floor to ceiling window in a well lit room. He looked out of a window and smiled as he saw a hole in the massive wall surrounding Academy City.

It was in the middle of the night but... Hundreds of powered suits worked to fix it as quickly as possible, despite being more than two meters tall, they looked like ants from his point of view. "So our strongest Gemstone did that?" He grinned in excitement.

The woman looked nervous. "Y-yes. When we tried to extract his brain, he woke up and his reflection kicked in. The drugs only worked for ten minutes... plus minus a few seconds."

"Well, what about our other four?" The man didn't seem too worried that his city wall was destroyed.

"Meltdowner is no longer in the City but we can recall her, Electromaster is dormant, and the hidden one still cannot be found... Even though we know that he is in the City."

"I have his number. I'll call him when I need him."

The woman's jaw dropped in surprise. The hidden one was powerful enough to hide his very presence in Academy City which had trillions of microscopic cameras floating around called the Underline. To not only be able to find him but to be able to call him at whim and fancy… That was the power of the Board Chairman.

"Okay… But the strongest's body is… Breaking apart from his own reflection. After we tried to extract his power the first time…" She trailed off, unsure of how to continue before changing the subject. "And a suitable replacement hasn't been found. We had narrowed down our search from all over the world to Tokyo but still haven't found him."

The man smirked and looked at her with bored eyes and a questioning expression.

"Yes. We narrowed down the search by using AIM receptors from hound dog and we already have affiliated to all the best schools where the greatest and brightest minds are in hopes that we will find one with the processing capabilities required. But what happened to Kihara Amata? Who were the ones…" The Aleistier feigned ignorance and glared at the woman. "Wasn't it you Yuiitsu? You and your team was so sure was the one despite me telling you it could not possibly be him? And since you neglected to mention earlier, when you tried to extract the strongest's ability and copy it into him, the strongest almost died and Amata ripped his own body into shreds because of reflection kicking in."

The woman known as Yuiitsu looked at her feet in embarrassment and fear, afraid that punishment was coming.

"But no worries. Its normal for things like that to happen. I don't know why… but I have this nagging feeling that the Strongest will always seem to be the Weakest." His eyes lit up. "Call up that doctor. Get him to check the records for ex-geniuses that have gone through an accident or are crippled."

Yuiitsu cocked her head in confusion "Hai. Right away…" She left the room, not waiting for the Golden Retriever.

"Noukan" the man said to no one in particular. "The Anti-Art Attachment is ready. Moniter Tokyo. If you see wings, do not hesitate. Reflection will not kick in since magic is involved."

The dog nodded and left the room in a flash, heading for the nearest hangar where the Attachment was contained in.

'The strongest knows where the best candidate for his power is. He will definitely go to her.' He paced around the room, drowning in his own thoughts. 'But I do not want the destruction of this world… I messed up once and had to reset the world. This time, there is no magic except for me. Even those Magic Gods are normal. And this is what I wanted from the start. A world without Magic. So she has to remain neutral. For if she wants to, she can destroy this world in her anger. And the world that I tried so hard to achieve, a world without magic, is this one: This world that had nothing to do with me and was created purely by chance.' He clenched his hand. 'In this world, I created Academy City not to create an artificial heaven but to hide the Level Fives.' He looked up to the moon.

'And I pray that words of scorn are not passed to her. If she grows to hate, she will not have those white wings of protection but black ones of anger.'

For in this world, Suzushina Yuriko is Accelerator, The One who wields the Power of God.

A.N. HIII! its me again I hope you liked this one too cos I put a lot of thought into developing a problem in the story.

If I did a horrible job explaining in the story and you are confused, heres a little summary.

Aleistier came from the original To aru verse and when his plan failed and the world was destroyed by a very angry accelerator, he used most of his power to destroy that world and enter a new one which is this AU. From the LNs, i figured that Aleistier is prolly trying to create a world without magic that's why he is falling to science to allow him to create espers and artificial angels (kazakiri) since he had a rather bad past with magic. [its in one of the LNs. At the back. I think it was NT14? Or 13 arghh my memory sucks]. So yeah that's about it for aleistier. and Noukan followed him. I didn't want my fav dog to die!

The current espers are all gemstones and are level 5. Mugino is one, they know about Mikoto though she hasn't unlocked her power (she is not going to in this story. Sorry if u had ur hopes up) and I added the hidden level 6 as a meme. [KAMACHI SENPAI WHY IS HE STILL HIDDEN?!] the current accel is kakine as I wanted him to play the part of the one who has touched the territory of god and like in the novels, will allow accel to understand his power and die in the process… he didn't really die but still. XD so since his aim field was distorted by the Kiharas (yuuitsu, gensei and noukan. Sorry gensei didn't make an appearance), he is tearing himself apart as is going to yuriko to bestow upon her his power aaaand. The next part is the next chapter!

As usual, thanks for reading! I really appreciate it. Please tell me your thoughts on my current plot and MarkJ, thanks for always being there to support me and I hope you like my 'sudden plot twist' XD

Now… I have a pile of homework that I neglected cause I wanted to write this. So bye!

For now.


	12. Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Kakine Teitoku  
Current user of the Vector Change ability.

Ah... shit. This is not going well...

I had broken out of Academy City earlier. Those damn Kiharas tried to use me again after the first experiment failed.

No... stop thinking about useless things. Focus on running.

More like jumping.

Running over buildings is tough... Most of them are close together but some have almost 10 meter gaps between them... I am reaching the City zone soon. There will be less evenly sized buildings, from flats to skyscrapers... though the skyscrapers of Tokyo have nothing on those in Academy City.

Look at Endymion for example. The damn thing went into orbit.

Another factor was the dark. Yes, the city had plenty if lights, but most of them were pointed down, to the people walking on the streets. For me who was jumping on the roofs, there wasn't much light. Additionally, it is rather cloudy today. No moonlight for me.

I used my ability to make another big jump. It's getting dangerous to use it. Those scientists messed up my AIM field and I am losing control of my ability. Like that Amata kid who had no idea what he was signing up for, I would not be able to control the Reflection field being emitted from my body and would tear myself apart. Yes he was smart. He was the top scorer of Nagatenjouki before Yuriko got head damage. But it was still too much for him.

Imagine like you had a computer. It was tough enough to write a programme just from scratch right? Now, imagine if you had to calculate the millions of processes going on just to keep the computer display and the processor running it, which should be automated by the way, while writing the programme at the same time.

That was what this ability was. The AIM field's Reflection will normally ignore the body and create the field a few decimeters around it, repelling anything and everything. All the user had to do was to make calculations for extra things like allowing gravity, sound, wind, light to bypass the barrier and the ability will make those calculations for you. Anything else like changing the direction of a vector had to be done manually.

However, what was happening now is that the ability was not doing those miscellaneous calculations for me. And the ability was not ignoring my body and was trying to tear me apart from my very core. I had to fight to make those calculations to keep myself alive so I could pass this ability to the next person.

I leapt off a building and landed rather disgracefully on a shorter one.

Ugh. Horrible landing. My knees hurt now.

Then I heard the unforgettable sounds of Radio Noise type trackers.

They were shaped like humans, but to be exact, they were in the shape of teenaged girls. With thin waists and a relatively flat chest. Carrying Toy Soldier Assault rifles and the Metal Eater EX as their basic armament, these ninja like mechs were a wonder of Academy City engineering.

While the rest of the world was struggling to create robots that could stand and walk in two feet, Academy City had improved it and allowed these 273kg mechs to move at speeds of 60km/h and see electromagnetic field lines, analyze them, and use them to search for and find their target.

They were like an elite hound dog unit. But ten times better in every way.

Several shots were fired. They were silenced though, so no one heard them. They all missed. Haha! They can't hit me at this speed. I was travelling at 70km/h.. roughly. Plus minus a few. And jumping on and off buildings so I can't blame them.

Anyway, I had to find some Suzushina Yuriko and transfer my ability to her. In this world, only seven gemstones existed and their abilities were unique. When we got our power when it was passed down, or gained it when we were born, some kind of sixth sense will tell us who the next available person for transfer was. And we would be able to find them like a GPS tracker.

The amazing convenience of esper powers.

Currently, the next candidate for Vector Change was Suzushina Yuriko. If I died before I could pass it to her, my ability would be transferred at random to any baby who was born at that moment. I would like to avoid that as the baby could potentially level an entire city in play time.

That's why no ability user allowed themselves to die by surprise and force their power on some unsuspecting child... though it still did happen from time to time.

Jump... fly... land... run... rinse and repeat. Apparently, this Suzushina Yuriko is in a hospital about three jumps away... now I had to get rid of these annoying drones before they catch me.

A shot hit my back. Probably from the Metal Eater since the vectors of kinetic energy from that attack were strong enough to cut through tank armor. I bet I could still get away. Even though there are probably more then twenty of them lurking around. It was said that there were more than 20000 of them produced.

It seems I have no choice...

I tapped a little device attached to my ear. It acted as a mobile device and I only had it for one purpose.

"Hey... Rhinoceros Beetle... You owe me a favor or two so if you could be so kind, could you buy me a few minutes?" No verbal reply came, but a soft but gradually increasingly loud buzzing could be heard.

I continued jumping around to get to my destination while moving in a zig-zag to prevent them from landing any hits on me. I didn't have the confidence to reflect more than 70 bullets simultaneously in this state. This continued on for a few minutes until...

Several of those robots came to a halt are held their rifles. One even prepared a railgun... you don't see those everyday. It looked really cool though. A large circular battery covered with armor was attached to its back and it held a large array of electromagnets held together like a magnet train's tracks. Thick 8cm thick wires were connected from the gun and the battery and a transparent magazine holding 5 rounds was inserted to it from the top. Each round was the size of grenade. One shot could probably destroy a bunker.

Strong winds started to come towards me. It didn't affect me but it served to put all the mechs on alert, all the them stopping in place, pointing their weapons in every direction.

*Whoosh* a white blur passed just a few inches away from my head.

The few mechs that decided to continue chasing me were suddenly impaled by large, 4 meter long white spears.

From the skyscraper in front of me, a huge, white Rhinoceros Beetle stood above it, flanked by humanoid shapes that still retained an insectoid aura to them. A pair of dragonflies with 10 meter wingspans fluttered above them.

Each of them had several aspects that seemed combat oriented.

The horn of the Rhinoceros Beetle was more like a tank's cannon than a horn and the humanoid insects, or should I call them insectoid humans... carried spears or wielded bows and arrows. The dragonfly's maw was replaced by some sort of gatling cannon.

The one Radio Noise mech that was carrying the railgun put two fingers to it's "ear" if it was human and had one. Most likely calling in a squadron of those Five-Over Model Case: Railguns that they were famed for working with.

Those five overs were far superior than the imitation bots that the Silent Party team used. Mugino had personally tested those robots that imitated her prided Meltdowner. According to her, the artificial Meltdowner had less than a fraction of her power. One of her own Meltdowners had completely cut through its artificial counterparts shot, destroying a nearby warehouse in the process.

When I passed the Beetle, it buzzed it's wings and nodded it's head. Somehow, the buzzing formed audible words. 'I will buy you ten minutes. You will be able to pass her your power by then.'

I grinned and nodded. "Thanks. Now we're even." It's eye lighted up, seemingly saying: 'Oh really?'

Looks like even he knew that I was on my last legs.

Leaping past it and landing on the hospital where Yuriko was staying in, a loud 'BOOM' from the Beetle's cannon firing a non explosive round blew away all the dust collected on the building and cracked several windows on nearby buildings.

The battle between Dark Matter and some of Academy City's finest technology began.

* * *

I landed on the hospital roof with a loud thud. Kicking open a locked door with the help of a little vector manipulation, I ran down to Yuriko's room.

Hah... I said her name like I knew her but I have never even seen her before. It was only because of this sixth sense that all of us gemstones had that I could find her.

Passing several dark hallways and scaring several nightshift nurses, I finally found the room I was looking for: Room 212.

I burst into her room, I didn't have much time left... What welcomed me was more of a surprise than anything.

A young girl, white pure white hair and an extremely pale condition who was staring at the ceiling with her eyes wide open despite it being one in the morning. The fact that she was white enough to be seen in the dark made me think of a certain Beetle.

The room was large, with a window that replaced one of the walls. I could see a Radio Noise drone get decimated by a cannon ball fired from my good Rhinoceros Beetle friend.

And the bed the girl was lying on was labelled 'Medical conditions - Paralysis and slight brain damage'.

She turned her eyes towards me.

They were red.

In that instant, I had a sudden vision of a boy with red eyes and white hair holding a crutch lunging towards me with black wings sprouting from his back. I also had the impression that I was killed.

Just an impression.

I stumbled to her. My legs suddenly losing strength and becoming jelly-like. Her eyes held both surprise, annoyance and curiosity in equal measure. However, she did not make a move other than twitching her fingers. Probably because of her condition.

I placed one of my hands on her head and another on her chest, above her breasts mind you... not that she had any... don't tell her I thought that! She gasped, uttering the words "What the fuck?" Before closing her eyes, falling unconscious.

I could feel that mystical sixth sense taking over and my life force leaving me. It was like my strength was being squeezed out of me. This carried on for a few more minutes before I felt another presence in the room.

From the window, a white boy had appeared. Unlike Yuriko who was probably an albino, this boy was pure white. From his skin to his eyes to his clothes.

"It seems like you won't last long enough to explain her power to her." He had a saddened expression on his face. "If you need to go, I can do it for you."

I smiled, using up almost all my energy. Dark Matter really was a nice guy. "I'll take you up on that offer."

~~~~~~The White Boy~~~~~~~

I watched Kakine lose his power and fall to the ground. He had done good. Not easy managing a power like that. Too hard on the head. Not to say Dark Matter was any easier.

I received a message from my constructs that they had eliminated all of those robots.

They had put up a pretty good fight, managing to take down one of my dragonflies was a feat itself but managing to eliminate both and get me to send out a moth? That's unheard of!

The Fraulein is sure to make fun of me when I return home. Something about technology getting the better of me. I had also prepare some new creations of my own... how does a scorpion or wolf spider sound? Pretty cool am I right?

Why am I saying this... Kakine is dead. I should be mourning... he was a pretty good friend.

Rasing an arm towards him, I picked him up and wrapped him like a mummy in Dark Matter. I'll bury him later.

I looked down at the girl. She was really pretty. Prolly had a boyfriend if she wasn't a tsundere. And was the new holder of Vector Change. I sat on the multiple couches in the room. She will be waking up in a few minutes... her information board said she was paralyzed.

He he he. I can do a thing or two about that!

~~~~~~~~~Yuriko~~~~~~~~~~

What the hell? I can move?

I moved my legs.

The hell?

I moved them again.

They are working alright.

I could feel... everything. My back, crotch, legs, feet... especially my crotch. Those damn nurses put a diaper on and it was wet. WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS SHIT SERVICE?

As those thoughts went on, I writhed my body and punched the bed. "He he he. That's a cute reaction. It seems like you've gotten your movements back. Surgery successful."

I... have not heard that voice before. It sounded less like one person and more like a choir talking in unison.

Ugh... I forced myself into an upright position. A handsome white boy greeted me, smiling and waving politely like a model. He really was white. From his eyes to his skin to his clothes, everything was white. A cat sized white Rhinoceros Beetle sat on his lap, legs flayed out.

"Who are you?" I inquired. He had said the word surgery earlier? And how was he pure white? And what kind of bug was that? More importantly, HOW IS HE HERE?! See how my thoughts and my outer expressions are completely from when I am with Haimura?

He smiled. "I have a lot to explain then." Seemingly knowing what I was thinking. "I'll start with a story, which you will listen to, attentively, and when I am done you can ask me any questions you want. Okay?" I nodded tentatively. This guy said things like this like he had rehearsed it. "Okay!" He grinned, satisfied with my answer, "Let's begin."

"In the world, there are seven gemstones, people with special powers. They are Vector Change, Dark Matter, Electromaster, Meltdowner, Mental Out, Attack Crash and the last one even I am not sure. And how do I know this? I am Dark Matter. I was human until I learned that I could combine my consciousness with a body made of this Dark Matter if I just added a few of my organs in. I am not gonna delve deeper because this is not about me. So long story short, I am immortal."

This story sounds kinda bullshit. Gemstones? Isn't Academy City trying to make people with powers like that? And those names seemed kinda... derpy. But nonetheless, I had agreed to listen so I listened.

"I can create matter that is not of this world. That is how I helped you get your body control back. Some of your spine was fractured and the nerves were cut off. I simply removed the bones and replaced them with Dark Matter with the same properties as bone and reconnected your nerves." I flashed him a dirty look and glanced at my body. What did he do to me?

"Hahaha!" He laughed. "Don't worry, I didn't violate you. I created scalpels and the sort and cut you open and fixed you from there. Extremely sterile. No bacteria" he tried to reassure me but I still felt dirty. He noticed. "Aw come on! The matter I used had the exact same properties as your natural body! I even factored in blood type and only two vertebra were replaced since only two were fractured. The rest have light ones that can heal naturally if you don't get hit by a car or anything."

I guess he didn't know I was hit by one before. At least he was considerate. And I got my movement back.

"Thanks for that though..." I gave him my thanks. Now I can do more stuff with Haimura and my sisters! I squealed in happiness inwardly.

The boy sensed my happiness and took my thanks like they were a trophy. "No problem girl. Now, where was I... Ah yes. The gemstones. You don't really need to know about the other abilities because... well you will know them sooner or later. What's more important is that you have one of those abilities."

Eh?

"The strongest one actually. You have Vector Change. Earlier, my good friend Kakine Teitoku, had passed you his power since you were the most compatible person to receive it." I raised an eyebrow. How did the guy know that I was compatible?

"All of us gemstones have a sixth sense that tells us who the most compatible person for their power is and when we feel that our lives are in danger, we will pass them down to the next person. In his case, some scientists in Academy City had messed with his AIM field which is the field that all ability users subconsciously emit. Kinda like the body heat you emit constantly. His field was a reflection barrier that reflected the vectors of anything coming towards him. Like light vectors and the sort. A more accurate name for it would be Vector Manipulation since he unconsciously repels everything and has to make calculations for what to and what not to reflect, as well as physically changing the vectors of say... a pebble he kicked and change its magnitude and direction to make it fly at the speed of sound. Something like that. I don't have the ability so I only have a rough idea of it." He looked at me with a sheepish smile and patted his insect... pet?

I remembered something like that in physics class. Anything that had magnitude and direction was a vector and vectors were in pretty much all movement, from heat to gravity. To change the direction and magnitude... that was some seriously powerful power.

"Originally, he was a Level One, which you are too since he passed you his ability. If he died before he passed you his ability, it will be passed down to any random baby who was born at that exact moment. There were a few odds. Some were that they would be born as a Level Zero and stay that way, another is that they will be a Level One and grow to control their powers." His happy expression darkened a little. "But there is always a chance that they will be born with a Level Five power. They had the ability to level a city just by swinging their arms. Though they may kill themselves in the process."

He shrugged, "so that's why Kakine here tried so hard to pass it to you because it's a hundred percent chance that you will be a Level One instead of letting chance take over and let there be be a chance that some kid will destroy a city with his Reflection."

Huh. Putting it that way, this Kakine guy seemed like a nice person. But why did I feel some hostility towards that name?

"So yeah! You have one of the most powerful abilities in the world. But you are a Level One. You can stay that way, like the current Mental Out girl. Or develop it like Meltdowner. Attack Crash currently lives like a travelling nomad and keeps his power at Level Four."

"What are those names..."

"Hehehehe..." he scratched his neck. "Well, we didn't come up with the names. It's just a feeling that it's the right thing to call them."

"Huh. Fascinating."

He raised an eyebrow. "You are taking this rather... well."

"Well," I had gone through a whole lot of shit in my life, from being led around like a blind sheep by a certain someone, losing faith in humanity and finally relearning that it is okay to have faith in people again. One could say I had grown to accept the nonsense happening around me. "I've had my fair share of problems" I told the white boy vaguely, to which he tilted his head in amusement and started to take his leave.

Gesturing towards the door, the cat-sized beetle changed its form into a dog sized dragonfly and unlocked the door with surprisingly deft movements. He then made a white top hat and tilted it towards me.

"In the end, I've only got this to say: The power that you have, its really up to you to use it as you see fit. Since you are a Level One, you can ignore it and it will not affect your daily life. Or you can try to develop it. Really, its all up to you." With that rather anticlimactic ending for his rather long story, he melted into a puddle of white goo that flowed through holes in the concrete and exited the building.

I lay on my bed, staring at the ceiling, piecing together what had happened.

So… some guy called a gemstone who had amazing powers was losing control of it, so he passed it to me and his good friend fixed my paralysis problem like it was nothing and explained to me my new power despite knowing next to nothing about it.

Sounded about right.

Ugh… It did feel good to be able to move about freely… though my old leg still couldn't move too well since the muscles had deteriorated due to it not moving for so long… Eh wait. He didn't fix my leg…

I looked back at my bad leg and tried to move it.

No response.

The other leg.

Decent response but still rather stiff.

God damn that beetle boy. Fixing my back but not my legs? AM I BACK TO SQUARE ONE?!

====Academy City====

"No wings from city. All Radio Noise trackers annihilated by unknown enemy."

"Hmm… Good. You can come back down Noukan. I have something to ask you."

The radio cut off and the man known as Aleistier returned to his comfortable chair, awaiting the return of his favorite subordinate.

A knock on the door and it swung open calmly. Into the room strode a Golden Retriever with a brown canvas bag tied on its bag like a harness and a cigarette in its maw. "What is it you want me here for Aleistier?" It questioned the man.

"Well, Noukan. We have been here for what? Ten years?"

"Yes."

"Do you like this new continuation of events?"

"You mean this world where magic does not exist and the only espers are gemstones who can only pass their power to someone else if they see fit?"

"Yes. This world without magic."

"But also no true science."

The man's eyes narrowed.

"What is this Academy City to you Noukan?"

"Weak, small, undisciplined and the Kiharas here are too timid for their own good. Nothing like the original seven who created me."

"Yes. That they are. But do you like this world? That is my true question."

The Dog's voice contained no emotion, yet managed to convey its anger and frustration. "Between like and dislike, it would be dislike but between good and evil, I feel it is good for this world to continue this way."

"So if you had the choice to start to destroy this world by creating what I had tried to create in the old world: an Artificial Heaven. You would do so in a heartbeat?"

"Not just that. But yes. I would much rather do that."

The man stood up.

"So you are willing to destroy this peaceful world by building the darkness that made Him destroy ours after we destroyed magic?"

"Yes. Because despite you pulling me from that burning world and bringing me here with you, I am still unable to comprehend fully what magic is."

"I guess we are on different sides."

The man named Aleistier raised his hand and a large staff appeared in it.

The staff looked like a twisted tree branch with an evil looking flower holding a large, glowing turquoise sphere.

"We killed our counterparts in this world and took over in order to keep peace."

"And when you did so, you created an enemy in your only true subordinate."

Aleister Crowly raised his wand, the Blasting wand and pointed it at the dog.

"I want peace for this world since it is the dream that I held for our old one."

The dog just stood calmly as large containers flying at the speed of Mach 20 crashed beside him and formed a suit around him, rising like a mother spider protecting her eggs.

"The world is too peaceful for me to enjoy."

"You do know that the Attachment draws on MY power?"

"Yes. But I have found a way to bypass it."

The man raised an eyebrow.

"By developing my own magic."

His eyes widened in realization as he started to charge up his wand with an amount power that would be equal to over a thousand hydrogen bombs exploding simultaneously.

But a tungsten drill fired at the speed of Mach 64 flew towards him as he declared his magic name.

The very same kind that killed a Magic God.

"Beast66-"

Half of Academy City was destroyed in that instant.

In official reports, an experiment had gone wrong resulting in the 2km deep crater in the middle of where a building with one window once stood.

In the shadows of Academy City that were starting to grow, a single dog eliminated every member of the Kihara family of science and their laboratory that he deemed unworthy of the family name.

Leaving only one woman.

And a petri dish containing a tiny experimental creature called the Sample Shaggoth.

* * *

A.N. haha this one was rather short wasn't it? I hope this explained anything confusing from the last one.

if there is anything you find confusing or odd, please tell me =D

MarkJ: thanks for that! this is gonna be maybe a three or four chapter arc? if you don't include this and the previous one, it should be two or so chapters more. I hope you like this one!

Riyangedut:(I hope I got your name right.) Thanks for your concern. I understand how you feel its a little rushed... I do too XD but I think I had wrote too little in between and just jumped straight into it. If you are worried that this will become a serious fic, don't worry about it =D after this Noukan problem is resolved we are getting back to happy times !

Peaceloving Aleisier FTW!


	13. Chapter 12

Chapter 13

A.N. thanks everyone who reviewed. I also felt kinda bad about that last one. It felt like something from my first chapter XD but what's done is done and all I can do I try to fix that in this chapter and that is what I'm gonna try to do XD

Other readers please don't lose faith in me just from that one XD I am still trying to elaborate more etc to make the story smoother so bear with me a little.

Also, a lot of the elements I'm using for this bit and the last one are from the most recent to aru books. So give them a read if you haven't. They. Are. Epic.

Except for Kamisato =,= that bastard... though world rejector is still really cool. If you haven't read them, go read em at baka tsuki. I also have unofficial PDFs of em that I copied from baka tsuki and put into word then converted to PDF. Pm me if u want em.

NT16 IS OUT ON AUGUST 10!

Now... on with it.

* * *

Kihara Noukan.

"How are we with the preparations?"

A woman in her twenties was working on something under a microscope. She wore a white lab coat but lacked the proper regulations on wearing it, wearing it unbuttoned and allowing her hair to flay over the microscope.

"It's doing good, growing really quickly... but it would be faster if you didn't kill everyone else in the 'Kihara' family." She looked up from her work with a amused but slightly annoyed expression. "What were you trying to achieve anyway?" She questioned nonchalantly while returning to her work. The deaths of her 'family' barely affected her.

The dog sat on the floor, a laptop set in front of it while it typed out a document with mechanical 'hands' that popped up from its bag.

"They were slow, dulled by peace and were unwilling to listen." The dog tore it's eyes from the laptop screen. "And I chose the ones who had a knack for biomedical engineering."

The world had been told that most of the deaths caused by the 'bomb' experiment going wrong were from scientists but in reality, only the mostly empty areas were destroyed.

The only true deaths were cleaners, delinquent students that did not stay in their dorms which were on the other side of the city, airport and spaceport workers and a few not-so important scientists. The rest were members of the 'Kihara' family that Noukan had deemed unworthy of his plan.

The woman turned away from her work yet again, "all of them were equally good at it." She said with a deadpan expression. "Especially Gensei."

Kihara Gensei was a well known scientist that that contributed a lot to the development of two -legged robots, the most important was the quadruple gyroscopic sensor in the mechs, one at the hip, the chest, shoulders and head. This allowed them to be able to sense it's position in a 3 dimensional environment at all times, giving them unparalleled balance in movement.

"But he is messy. And rather inefficient at times. Knowing him, he would rather continue developing esper powers than manipulating what we have." The dog walked over to a bowl of water and started drinking from it. The mechanical arms still tapping on the laptop.

Those arms of his were connected to his brain via external sensors. They were sensitive enough to sense which parts of his brain were active, then accurately choose the correct word he was thinking and then type it. Of course, it could also work as a human arm did and be used for many more functions like opening doors or even operating weapons systems.

"Anyway, I did not kill ALL of them. I could not locate Kagun and his Military Oil team. And even if I did find him, he is extremely useful and I would not even think of harming him."

"Hmm..." the woman put her pen on her chin. "But what is this anyway?" She changed the topic, "It's like nothing I have ever seen before." She was referring to the little ball of undulating flesh under her microscope.

"Sample shaggoth?" The dog seemed to smile in amusement at her despite being a dog. "It's a modification of existing Dark Matter that was not reabsorbed by the Rhinoceros Beetle."

"The Rhinoceros Beetle? Isn't that a legend or something? Like the Attack Crash?"

The Rhinoceros Beetle was a legend to most scientists. It was a gemstone with the ability to create matter that did not exist in this world. As well as create living things out of that matter. In addition, the matter it created was not bound by the laws of physics and chemistry. It was made by the Beetle's own rules and laws. If it wanted something like water, it could create that, and yet it could create a liquid but if it wanted it to have the strength of iron at the same time, it could do so. Imagine drinking metal that would not kill you.

That was why the Beetle was a legend that was revered by scientists all around the world. Mostly just Academy City as they were the only ones that a rather close connection to the gemstones.

"No it is not. All of them are real. They are just hiding." The dog's mechanical arms tapped a button with a resounding 'tap' and a nearby printer started working.

"Sample shaggoth is made of Dark Matter that was originally created to be a living thing. I think it was some sort of aquatic squid or something at first." The dog licked it's chin to get rid of the water collected on its fur. "If you have any animals like a goat or a pig or even a human, place a big of that sample in their bloodstream and let it bloom."

The woman raised her eyebrows, intrigued by this.

"A parasite?"

"Yes."

"And what is the aim of this?"

"You will see sooner or later."

~~~~~~~~~~~Yuriko~~~~~~~~~~~~

Heh. I can move!

It still felt unreal to me. Despite having some weird story explained to me earlier. I flexed my arms again and again, still in shock of what happened.

Some Dark Matter had stayed around as well, like some kind of guard for me. They took on the shape of a thin film that covered the wall and was invisible unless you knew it was there.

6a.m. It's about time for the doctor to come in...

As if on cue, the friendly doctor came in, flanked by several pale nurses that seemed to be shaking in fear.

"How are you feeling Yuriko? Did anything weird happen? The nurses seem..." he looked at the group of nurses that refused to leave his side. "Rather spooked today."

I grinned. "I'm fine!" Giving him a thumbs up in response to his question.

3\. 2. 1.

A shout the pierced the heavens and scared the living shit out of the people walking around the hospital rang out, "WHAT THE HELL?!"

* * *

"BUT... HOW?!"

After an hour of explanation from me, and scaring this nurses half to death, making them run out of the room, he still was in shock of how I recovered.

"I told ya," I tried to explain again while watching a chain of moving words made of Dark Matter on the wall behind him.

'Do not tell him about me. Make any random excuse. Like your spine reconnected.'

"I was asleep, then when I woke up I could move!" I grinned at the doctor while stifling a laugh from the letters quickly reassembling themselves into a chibi humanoid Rhinoceros Beetle giving me a thumbs up.

My god... this is some of the most fun I've had since I went out with Haimura... shit... those memories are getting a little fuzzy... I needa see my diary again.

Luckily, the doctor seems to have given up pressuring me as he said "fine... you are not going to tell me aren't you?" Giving me a dejected look, "but I still hope you will tell me sooner or later."

"You wanna watch the telly?" He said as he started to leave the room in a slouch.

I nodded and gave him a thumbs up as the white letters disappeared, becoming a little keychain dragonfly and hooking itself to my bed.

The doctor pressed the 'on' button on the television and left the room with a dejected slouch. Like a dog that had been denied a chance to play with its favourite toy.

As the door slammed shut, the news channel showed an image of a burning Academy City.

Wait... burning?

I focused on my attention on the screen, reading the subtitles as the volume was so low that I could barely hear it.

'Radiation-free Atomic weapon experiment gone wrong? Academy City reels from an explosion that destroyed the eastern half of the city, destroying three-quarters of the renowned research and development park, an airfield and a spaceport.'

A picture of a woman with straight shoulder length black hair and a sad look on her face appeared on the screen. The subtitles identified her as 'Kihara Yuuitsu'.

'We are saddened by this event and many of our top scientists have lost their lives in this. Despite the relative success of the experiment, the loss of lives counteracts the success.'

The image panned out, giving a helicopter's point of view of the city.

'Currently, our robots are working to find survivors and repair the damages. We estimate that it will take a few more days before the rubble is cleared and another week or two before buildings are rebuilt and a month before normal business resumes. The funerals for the deaths caused by this accident will be paid in full by us and a large compensation will be dealt out.'

The city that was encircled by huge walls was half burning while large Academy City robots fought fires and made repairs.

'The City cannot just express its sadness with words but this is the least we can do.' The woman had stopped speaking but the live video of the repair works was still being streamed.

A huge levitating machine with the words 'Five-Over_Model_case_07' printed all over one side of its UFO like shape hovered above the most heavily damaged area of the city, where fires were still raging. Massive jets of water sprayed from its underside where pipes were situated. According to a subtitled description, the machine held over a million gallons of seawater which was desalinated in the machine and then sprayed over the city.

While all that went on, 2m tall box-like robots repaired buildings and fixed the gigantic hole in the walls of the city.

Instead of the familiar construction equipment usually seen at construction sites, the construction vehicles of Academy City often had the ability to levitate, floating over uneven debris and were more than five times their normal size. Imagine a levitating dump truck the size of a small building that had a crane and a shovel that could probably scoop up a herd of elephants.

As I watched in awe of the speed of reconstruction of Academy City, I was reminded of the events of this morning.

The things that Academy City did in the shadows and did not want the world to know. Because in the world view, Academy City was nothing more than a gargantuan research and development park that employed geniuses all around the world as well as recruiting students as members for the 'esper' programme that only made them physically and mentally stronger but did not give them any supernatural powers.

The world is not yet able to accept the existence of supernatural abilities after all.

After staring at the television for an hour or so, I looked out of the window and was greeted by more construction. Workers were frantically trying to fix and replace broken windows while police officers tried to reassure panicked residents who were complaining about explosions and the like from the night before.

Heh... that Beetle was kinda careless wasn't he? At least no one saw him. And he cleared out all the robot parts.

In response to that thought, the dragonfly keychain buzzed up to my face and folded it's three pairs of legs in a human-like expression of 'HEY' while hovering in place.

I stuck out my tongue at it in a childish display of rebelliousness that it found amusing.

"Hey... Beetle... or should I call you white boy... or dragonfly... I feel kinda tired... So could you please hide for a bit? I don't want people seeing you." I told the bug and in reply, it buzzed it's wings and emitted a buzz that sounded like words. 'Sure. Go take a nap. You may not feel that I had done a surgery on you buy your body knows.' it flew back to my bed and hooked itself on it like the keychain it was disguised as. He really was amazing.

School ends in around five hours. I have to be energised in order to deal with my sisters.

At least Haimura will be here.

==In the destroyed region of Academy City==

A hand stuck out from the debris of what once was a 273 story skyscraper. The secondary headquarters of the Chairman of Academy City.

The body connected to that hand was crushed under a slab of concrete. This was of course normal. A normal human could not withstand a weight above a few hundred kilogrammes placed on it, let alone hope to survive being crushed by a 70 ton slab of concrete.

A dump truck the size of a jumbo jet picked it up, the expected blood and gore of the remains of the person went unnoticed by the cameras mounted on the machine to check for signs of life.

Because there was no remains. And that a small blast of fire had destroyed it.

The hand was connected to a unharmed human body which pointed at the machine's camera.

With a twist of his waist, the person dropped from the concrete slab that was being picked up by the electromagnet which was picking large pieces of debris that had rebar in it.

"Damn that Noukan. I didn't expect him to shoot me with that. Well... I had it coming after i let him go on an impossible fight against Kamisato." He cracked his neck and stretched his shoulders while considering something.

"Nahh, I won't intervene. They think I'm dead anyway."

The man picked up a piece of metal that was around the size of a traffic light and reshaped it into a new rod.

A new Blasting Rod.

"I believe that Girl will be able to beat the Noukan. It's about time he learnt that peace is better than that chaotic order he loves so much."

He looked up to the sky, muttering some words under his breath as loud construction went on around him.

"Oh Rhinoceros Beetle, have I proven to you that I want peace instead of war?"

Those words he said would be impossible for a human to hear even if they had been standing beside him but...

A crack in the ground seemingly started to leak a white liquid as if a water pipe had burst and white paint was coming out of it. But that was not the case here.

A boy made of pure white flanked by a pair of Rhinoceros Beetles appeared from the spreading puddle of white.

He looked at the man with bored eyes and gestured to one of the Beetles that had opened its back wing casing. "Get in."

The man smiled and lowered his head in thanks, politely going along with the boy's request, stepping into the beetle whose insides had been changed to look like a limo.

The boy nodded with a smirk lighting up half his face before turning into a hornet and flying off with the beetles in tow.

~~~~~~~~~~~Yuriko~~~~~~~~~~~~

Wiping off the drool of my chin, I looked around the room. The television was off... someone had come in to switch it off it seemed. I had left it on as the ambient noise was somewhat comforting. Just like someone in the jungle would find the sounds of animals comforting and a business man would find a cool jazz in the background to be the best place to sleep.

A young nurse with purple hair stepped into the room, "Hello Suzushina-san. I am going to help you with some physical therapy as the doctor told me to check on your leg since some parts may have not moved for a long time."

I sensed bullshit. The doctor had examined me earlier and I had told him that despite being able to move every other part of my body, I still could not move my bad leg and my good leg was no different from before. This was probably some attempt to examine me like the secret scientist I know he is.

But in the end I decided to go along with it. After all, I didn't want to cause trouble for this nurse as I had seen her around for quite a while and she had put up with my sisters since my first visit, though I never did get her name.

"Okay then. Lets go!"

* * *

"Onee-chaaaa... EH?!"

Mikoto had burst into the room, expecting me to be prone and vulnerable to her cuddles... but I was busy doing physical therapy with one of the nurses.

Really, she complains of her friend Kuroko doing that to her all the time but she does it to me all the time as well. Hypocrite.

"Hehehehe... hi Mikoto. Where are the other three?" I smiled sheepishly while the nurse started putting on earplugs in a well practiced movement.

"Ah... err..." Mikoto was at a loss for words. "They... are... uhhh they... are coming soon."

Misaka, Last Order and Worst poked their heads into the room cautiously after hearing Mikoto's scream.

"Mikoto... are you okay? It seems Onee-chan has been replaced by an impostor." Misaka asked while keeping a safe distance between us and herself.

On the other hand, Last Order and Worst happily accepted my recovery without any problems and ran up to me, enveloping me in a hug and pushing me to the floor.

"Oneeeee-chaaaaan! I missed you! Manami says as she hugs you!"

"Hehehehe Yuri, you seem to have pulled off the impossible again."

"Haha Last Order! I missed you too!" I picked her up in my arms and hugged her tightly as she squealed and complained about the hug being too tight even for her tastes.

After a few more seconds, Last Order got off me and ran out of the room... for some reason and I was helped up by Worst and the Nurse who looked extremely annoyed.

"Heh... sorry... erm... what do I call you?" The nurse smiled, happy that I had finally asked her for her name. "Its Ryou Fujibayashi. You can just call me Ryou."

"Sorry about this Ryou-chan." I apologised to her.

She waved me off and started to leave the room. "It's fine Suzushina-san, I'm already used to it."

My sisters looked apologetic for a second before returning to their hyperactive selves. But before any of us could say anything...

"Hey ONEE-CHAAAN! MY FRIENDS ARE HERE!" Last Order appeared at the door pulling on another girl's hand.

She wore white and black clothes that looked a little like a maid outfit and had yellowish white hair that came down to her waist. She also wore a Gekota hairpin and held a lollipop in her mouth.

I had no idea who she was.

"Hehehehe Onee-chan. That's Febri. One of my friend's stepsisters that became good friends with Last Order." Mikoto introduced us as the girl, Febri waved in an extremely cute manner.

"Hallo!" She said with the lollipop in her mouth. Another girl appeared behind her. She looked a little older but looked exactly the same as Febri.

"And that's Janie, her older sister."

Another girl popped her head in. This one wore normal clothes. A blue shirt and a dark blue dress. She had dark blue hair and had eyes like a goldfish... she seemed really familiar...

"And that's my friend and eternal Haifuri rival Nunotaba Shinobu. She's from Nagatenjouki." Mikoto finished up the introductions of the three visitors.

"She's my rival too" Misaka pitched in, annoyed that she was being left out.

"Ko-ni-chi-wa..." the girl, Shinobu said with Janie when her name was mentioned. By the way, they all had lollipops in their mouths.

Smiling at the little girls, I somewhat ignored Shinobu. But what can I say? I liked kids. Even though I felt kind of a connection to Shinobu.

"She's the one who helped you out when you were still in Nagatenjouki." Worst whispered into my ear, noticing my conflicting feelings about Shinobu. She then helped me to the bed where I sat and gestured the little girls... Febri, her sister and Last Order, to join me... I sound like a paedophile when I say it like that don't I?

If I was a guy, I had no doubt I would be called a lolicon.

"Hehehehe Yuri. You like kids? You can have a few with Haimura sooner or later." Worst teased with an obnoxious wink and grin.

"Eh? Where is he?" I asked, just realising that he had not come like I expected. I wanted to surprise him.

"He told us he had extra lessons." Misaka replied while waving her phone. "Did Onee-san not check her phone?"

Looking at my phone on the bedside table, I noticed that the notification light was blinking.

Ah...

Damn.

==A Certain Hospital in Academy City==

"Heaven Canceller!" A few loud clacks that was the sound of high heeled shoes smacking the floor rang throughout the corridor and the level below it, making several patients annoyed.

"Heaven Canceller!" The person who the voice belonged to was a student doctor and nurse of the hospital who went by the name of Vento.

She was an English woman who had decided to pursue medical studies after her brother had died in an accident at a theme park and the medical technology of the time was not able to save him. She had quickly risen the ranks and became the best in her medical school in England, bringing her to Academy City to learn under the greatest doctor of them all, the Heaven Canceller.

She threw open the door.

"Yes, yes. Mmhmm... yeah. Sure." The frog-faced doctor looked to her and nodded, a sign that mean he would speak to her soon. "Okay. If you got nothing else important to say I will be off to help one of my students."

He smiled at her in an apologetic manner. "Okay great. Bye."

He hung up.

"Now what is it Vento? Knowing you is it some new form of intensive care?"

Vento had brought up several schemes for the intensive care unit and emergency unit for the hospital. Her fervour for improvement in those sectors was unparalleled. Even the Canceller had to admit his student beat him in that.

"No... it's from Terra-kun at the Tokyo Central Hospital." Terra was a rather eccentric Roman who brought his hospital up on his own without help from Academy City tech, using only the normal technology of other countries but always referred patients to the Canceller if he could not handle them. Rather well known for his casual attitude to his patience, he used to have green hair and eyebrows, his shark like teeth also help give off the impression that he was more of a mad scientist than a doctor.

Luckily he had dyed his hair black and put on braces after a scolding from the Canceller about the proper way a doctor should look.

"He sent a written letter. He said he didn't trust emails on this one." Vento told the Canceller.

"Hm? Lemme see... EH? SHE RECOVERED?" The frog-faced doctor exclaimed. "I'm going down to see. Vento. Wanna tag along?"

Nodding furiously, Vento followed him and got onto a taxi to Tokyo.

Vento still didn't have a clue about what was going on.

~~~~~~~~~~~~Kano~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Ugh... when is lesson ending?"

I slammed my face on the table. Tsukuyomi sensei was still going on about some science topic.

Looking out the window, I watched the school's Senshadou team practising their manoeuvres and formations. Much more interesting than lessons.

The Panther was now leading a charge before turning sharply and becoming a shield for the less protected Panzer IIIs to get off a few shots before speeding off with them.

They have improved a TON. Musujime-san's performance has increased dramatically ever since she and Etzali got together. Not to mention that Enshuu-chan had done some upgrades to the tanks with Fukiyose-san... Maria, the younger sister, and Kagun sensei. He is apparently Enshuu-chan's uncle.

It was a big surprise when the genius sensei who quit his job in Academy City to become a teacher and refused to be called by his family name, Kihara, and told us indirectly that Enshuu-chan, the top scorer in our school was his niece. Together, they had done some upgrades to the tanks after the Competition and improved their speed, tread endurance and set up extra armor like armor skirts for the treads and turrets.

Something told me we would need them for something other than Senshadou competitions sooner or later... it was an odd feeling.

Ah well. I returned my attention to class where Tsukuyomi sensei was scolding Touma for sleeping despite Fukiyose-san slapping him on the head multiple times to keep him awake.

Glancing at the clock, I noticed that class would end in ten minutes. I hope Yuriko was doing okay. She looked pretty bad after she realised she couldn't move.

Ugh... I promised her I would take care of her and I still can't do anything to help... I really am useless aren't I?

*Pant* *pant*

I had took off the moment the bus reached the stop. Running a full five hundred metre sprint in a few seconds from the interchange, across the bridge, through an underpass and reached the hospital.

Signing in at the reception, I waited at the lift for a good ten seconds, allowing me to catch my breath. If the hospital was small, I would have just run up to her room.

But this hospital was forty stories tall. And Yuriko's ward was on the thirty-third floor.

I would die if I had to run up there. Not to say that I wouldn't do it if the lift had broken down.

*Beep*

A soft but solid sound came from the lift. The panel on top of the lift door said the word 'Overload' in bright red letters.

~~~~~~~~Inside the lift~~~~~~~~~

"Aw c'mon! Worst! It's your fault you breasts are so heavy!" Mikoto shouted at Worst since they were stuck in the lift.

"Oi! It's your fault for saying that the lift would be fine with all seven of us! Didn't Misaka say it could only handle six?!"

"THEN WHO MAKES A LIFT THAT CAM ONLY HOLD SIX PEOPLE? AND DON'T THE THREE GIRLS WEIGH LESS THAN A NORMAL PERSON?"

"... Manami is about thirty kilogrammes Manami admits sadly. She has been eating too many sweets."

"Janie and Febri weigh in at around seventy kilogrammes together." Shinobu said quietly.

"..."

"..."

"Worst... press the 'Alarm' button."

"Sure."

~~~~~~~~~~~Kano~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Shit.

*pant*

Fffff-yuk.

*heavier panting*

Stairs.

*pant*

Are. The. Worst.

What kind of hospital makes a single lift?! And that one lift can only hold six people at a time?! And the other lifts are reserved only for the patients and doctors?! WHAT KIND OF INEQUALITY IS THIS?! Plus, the staircase was not well ventilated and there was not air-conditioning. Damn this hospital and cutting electricity costs.

Thirty-second floor... ten more steps... nine... eight... right foot... left foot... six... right foot... four... right foot... left foot... one...

YES!

Using my hands to push open the staircase door. I staggered to Yuriko's ward and collapsed on the sofa the moment I got in.

"Hi... Yuri... ko..."

Burying my face in the pillow, I didn't get a good look at Yuriko, expecting her to just question me from the bed.

Less than a minute of silence later...

A pair of cold, slender hands touched my shoulders. "Hello Haimura-kun~."

I jumped at the touch and spun around like a crocodile, causing the person whose voice I recognised as Yuriko to fall on me. But it can't be Yuriko. She's paralyzed! And she would never use such a tone for me.

A shock of white hair covered my eyes...

Eh?

"Ahhhm... Haimura... did you do that in purpose or was it an honest accident? And you are really... sweaty... did you run up here or something?" The hair spoke, a familiar edge coming back to it.

The owner of the hair spun around and came face to face with me. The hair parted revealing... Red eyes, delicate features with a slight frown, white hair... Pretty face. Definitely Yuriko.

After five seconds of processing...

"EHH?! HOW?"

* * *

"So that's what happened." Yuriko finished with a grin, waiting for my reaction.

Wait.

Before I get on with that, I need to tell you guys what happened before we both ended up sitting on her bed chatting.

After my initial shock, I had recovered after ten minutes and started celebrating her mysterious recovery and picked her up and put her on the bed... No. Nothing happened. I just put her on it. I stayed up standing. Until she invited me to sit with her of course.

She sat with her normal cross-legged posture with a little help from me and I explained why I was late which made her laugh for a good five minutes. Climbing up thirty-three stories made for a good story.

Then she explained a long winded story about a Beetle, powers and gemstones. You get the idea.

Despite my common sense exploding and giving up halfway through, I somewhat believed her after seeing that she could move. Even the doctor said that Academy City may not be able to help her so whatever saved her, was something. And she did say that her savior would show up sooner or later when he was ready.

Yes. I am jealous. But I still want to thank the guy.

She looks really happy now. Her eyes lighted up in joy and a smile a seemingly stuck on her face. It felt great to see her like that.

It made me feel like being here helped me a lot... for her mental state at least.

Now, back to where we were.

When she said that sentence: "So that's what happened.", We had been lying down beside each other, her head on my out stretched arm. Don't ask me how we got into that position.

But that wasn't the main point.

The main point was that when that sentence was said, the door opened and in stepped Yuriko's parents who had come after work. Their eyes widened when they saw us like that.

Even Yuriko stiffened up.

Hahahaha... I am screwed aren't I?

* * *

A.N. Hi again. I hope this one was enjoyable and better than the last one. I decided to add vento and terra as doctors cos... why not? XD and Yes they may be a bit OOC but remember, this is an AU XD (I'm just making excuses aren't I?) ==

And Riyangedut(again, I hope I spelled it right): HAHAHA I TOTALLY AGREE I MADE HIM A LITTLE OOC but I did It intentionally because he has been putting up with a peace loving aleistier for quite a while. so yeah XD lemme hear your thoughts on him

MarkJ: I know I failed ur expectations so I hope you can give me judgement for this one. XD PLEASE DUN GIVE UP ON ME XD

the rest of you, and that one other guy who followed this story(THANKS A LOT by the way,) I hope you can give me your thoughts on how to improve and whether u liked this one or not hehe.

Next chapter! Noukans plan? and aleistier sipping tea with fraulein and the white boy?(in the official to aru he is kakine by the way...[why am I telling you this... you guys should know by now])

And NEXT NEXT ONE TANKS?! SHIPS?! THE AAA?! BEETLES?! GIANT FLESHY BALLS OF DOOM?! WHITE WINGS?! (this one may take more than a week. I'm still writing it and delaying chapter 14 till next week to be consistent hehe.) It was my sister's idea to reveal spoilers to get you guys ideas about them. I'm still writing so if you review and put in you comment, I will try to add it in (terms and conditions apply)

Enough with this A.N. thanks for reading and BYE! 700+VIEWS?! OMG! GIRL SCREAM!


	14. Chapter 13

Chapter 14

It has been two days since the 'bomb accident'. Academy City had almost completely removed all the rubble and debris from the destruction caused by the 'bomb'.

Even then, the City was not fully above ground.

Since the City had so much technology that was kept secret, where were they placed?

Without a second thought, one would say underground.

But Academy City took underground to a whole new level.

Most cities built their underground networks and buildings around fifty to a hundred meters underground. Sometimes even deeper. Maybe even a kilometer or two.

Academy City however, went a full fifty kilometers down.

Under its subway lines and underground malls lay a network of laboratories, tunnels and secret headquarters of important people. So when the City surface had been destroyed, the casual viewer would say that almost half the City was destroyed.

In reality, barely an eighth of the City was damaged.

Soft pats of padded feet echoed in one of those tunnels, the hiss of hydrolic mechanisms also found their way to become audible despite soundproofing in the walls surrounding them.

"So is it growing well?"

A Golden Retriever strode into a formerly locked room and calmly asked a woman with medium length straight black hair that was wearing a lab coat like a cardigan.

She was watching through a layer of bulletproof glass with amusement at several human corpses that were undulating unnaturally.

They were infected by the Sample Shaggoth. A living being made of Dark Matter that was modified by scientists. The parasite would grow rapidly within a living body and consume the fat within the creature or person, replacing it in the process and allowing it to move freely around the body. Though the body will not feel any pain, once the Shaggoth had consumed all the fat in the body, it would start on the muscles, followed by the internal organs and finally completely consume the person.

By then, the parasite would have a large, fleshy ball shaped body that could move at thirty kilometers per hour and consume another living creature, becoming bigger and bigger.

But that didn't mean that they needed to eat living creatures. The original fifty samples had been placed into dead bodies collected from the destroyed region of the City. The families would receive plastic replacements.

"Yes sensei. We should be able to send them out soon. The samples have reached half their fill size." She winked and gave a thumbs up to the talking dog.

"That's good. They will multiply on their own once they reach a heavily populated area."

"But are you sure you want to do this? Many other countries will get involved because of rights and stuff like that."

"Do not worry. A single Five Over can take on an entire armed forces. And we have an army of them. None can stand up to us."

That was a fact. Academy City had over two hundred Five-Overs. Two hundred of them were Model_Case_Railguns, ten were Model_Case_Attack_Crash(es).

The Railguns, when working in sync with or Radio Noise mechs were almost invincible. On the other hand, Attack Crash types are almost invincible. Levitating above the ground like a flying fortress and being able to deploy fifty meter long spherical Objects that are almost on par with the Railgun type Five-Overs in pure damage output and even surpassing them in durability.

Being able to withstand a nuclear attack and continue to move, attack and function normally was unheard of in any country other than in Japan. Both the Attack Crash type Five-Overs and the Objects had this incredible amount of defense

Even then, the Academy City mechanized Air Force was unparalleled. But I am not going to dwell into that for now.

"Heheh. Good point." The woman laughed and knocked herself on the head.

The dog started to leave the room. "Send the parasites out the moment they are ready. I will have the trucks prepared in two hours."

Kihara Yuuitsu showed a twisted smile and nodded. "Sensei. Do you like how things are going?" She asked a personal question. These sort of questions were rarely asked in these underground tunnels but the woman and the dog shared a deep connection that has lasted nine years.

Kihara Noukan stopped walking for a good ten seconds, considering what to say.

He felt angry. Not at the man who made the experiments he loved so much stop because of his longing for peace. He couldn't deny that man's dream. But he was angry with himself who followed that man for ten years before turning on him when he had unlocked what lay beyond science which is a disgrace to the Original Seven from his original world.

"Between good and evil, I would say this is evil."

He hesitated choosing his words carefully "But whether I like it or not, I find this extremely entertaining."

The dog used a pair of mechanical arms to place a cigar in its mouth and light it.

"After all, science is nothing without uncontrolled experiments."

It strode out of the room.

"And sometimes, unexplainable results." He finished vaguely leaving his student scratching her head at what he said.

With a resounding boom, the hydraulic doors hissed and slammed shut.

~~~~~~~~~Yuriko~~~~~~~~~~

"Bye Yuriko."

"Bye..."

After getting chased off by my Dad yesterday, Haimura had patted my head and ran off at top speed, my father hot on his trail as my mom rolled her eyes and asked me if we had kissed.

I don't want to get into the nitty gritty details because despite them being really fun, they are really embarrassing.

On the very next day, Haimura had returned with Musujime-san whom caught on that he and I were on a first name basis.

"Oh my... Suzushina-san, it seems that you two have become rather..." She mock gasped dramatically, "dating?" She whispered the last word.

That statement alone had caused Haimura and I to protest. Loudly. Which brought her to conclude that, I quote, 'double Tsundere is the best coupling ever'.

I had immediately gone red in the face and fell silent. Haimura on the other hand had the opposite reaction and protested even more loudly. Good thing all the nurses here were used to noise coming from my room. Albeit with females instead of males.

Worst had barged in after that. Along with two other members of Musujime-san's Senshadou team, Kuroyou Umidori and Kinuhata Saiai whom Worst claimed were her former students.

Together, all four of them grouped up and joined forces to tease me and Haimura.

I think I blushed enough to make me look like a lobster.

Okay. Enough juicy details. I get really nervous talking about this kind of stuff. I hope you are happy that you read all that.

After that, the visiting hours for the hospital had come to a close and they were chased out by nurse Ryou and her sister Kyou.

And that brings me to where I left off.

Hmm... It's still really early... (It's nine. I'm just being picky).

Looking at my open palm, I asked the white dragonfly, "How do I use my power?"

I seemed to have caught it by surprise as it fell off its ledge and transformed into the white boy.

Rubbing his head, "You want to use your power?" He asked incredulously.

"Well, I am bored."

"That's... Rather frank..."

"Well, that's how I am."

I grinned at him and started trying to flick a little coin. All I could do was flick it normally. No semblance of power here. If anything, I was more of a talentless individual who had talent... I'm just contradicting myself aren't I?

The boy sat on my bed, creating a small television in his hands.

"I can't exactly explain it to you since it's not my power. But I can show you how Kakine-san learnt how to harness it."

The white television started to display colors. It was like watching a real television. But much clearer.

Pretty amazing.

"How did you do that? Isn't everything you make kinda..." I quickly thought of a way to say what I meant without insulting him "white?"

I failed miserably.

Rubbing his neck and creating a small beetle on his lap, it seems creating things was as casual to him as how some people would bite their nails or fidget with their hands, he smirked. "I can create anything that is not of this world. So I just have to mix some properties that I want and I can create it. Color or no color. Though I usually use white since it's easy to use."

Huh. His power seems much more interesting than mine...

"However my power is focused on creation and yours is on destruction. You can't compare them." He said quickly, as if knowing what I was thinking.

I tilted my head and pouted. "Why?" I whined, being a little selfish, I also wanted some interesting power.

"Ah... I have no comment but nevertheless. Watch the videos and learn." The white boy grinned and transformed into a stick insect.

* * *

Two hours later.

A vein popped.

A boy rolled on the floor laughing.

I do NOT want to explain what happened.

~~~~~~~Dark Matter~~~~~~~~

A few seconds earlier.

Okay... I think she's got it.

I had showed her a video... which was essentially my memories that were converted into video form by making a television made of Dark Matter and streaming my thoughts into it. The great thing about having a body made of Dark Matter is that you can do some really crazy things with it.

The video was of Kakine-san learning how to harness his power when he was a Level One. He was standing by a riverside and was trying to accelerate pebbles by kicking them. After a few hours, he had managed to shoot one at the speed of a bullet.

Yuriko was doing essentially the same thing with her coin. Earlier, she had managed to fire it at almost a hundred meters per second. Luckily I caught it before it damaged the hospital wall.

I HAVE to stop praising myself... I'm such a narcissist sometimes.

Anyway, she is on a roll now. Three consecutively improving results. If she tries that again, she may be able to flick it with four times the normal amount of force...

*High pitched scream of anger*

Nahh she didn't get it.

~~~~~~~~~Yuriko~~~~~~~~~~

*Knock* *knock*

*Knock* *knock* *knock* knock* *knock*

"Oi what is it?!" I shouted at the door from my bed.

Some idiot was knocking on the door. In the middle of the night. Glancing out the window, I noticed the sky was pitch black. Glancing yet again at the glow-in-the-dark clock Last Order gave me, I also noticed it was three.

Three in the damn morning.

I had given up trying to learn how to control my power as not only did I fail to harness it properly, but for the one time when my calculations were correct, that pesky white boy gave me a distracting thumbs up. Making me mess up and send the coin, which I simply wanted to flick up wards with more force than usual, fly off in a sideways arc.

He received a crutch thrown at the speed of sound... Though he probably didn't feel any pain. Stupid ability of his.

"Ahh... Hahahah... Err... Yuri-chan... It's me, Terra." A nervous voice came through the door. It sounded a lot like THAT doctor but I don't know anyone called Terra.

"And who are you? I don't know any 'Terra'!" Good thing Dark Matter locked my door for me. Whichever creep who wanted to come in who wasn't my doctor couldn't barge in... Unless they were one of those espers. Then again, I really should get his name. Glancing at the white keychain, I made a mental note to ask him for a proper name the next time I had some free time.

In an exasperated tone, "It's me. Your doctor. Don't tell me you don't know my name despite me having treated you so many times." The voice replied. So... He was that doctor? He had the Master Key didn't he? It's either he wanted to he courteous and respectful or he was some elaborate doppelganger that could replicate voices really well.

Not that anything like that would surprise me. Getting a white Rhinoceros Beetle to fix your paralysis and another dead guy to give you a give you his power that you can't use is enough to prepare you for any surprises.

"Okay?" I replied in a sarcastic way "If you are, just come in. Though I do not appreciate you coning in at three in the bloody morning!" I shouted the last part, my sarcastic tone quickly becoming an annoyed one.

An audible sigh came from the door and I heard the lock mechanism move, before being blinded by the bright lights in the hallway. The hospital rarely switched them all on at night. A guest of some sort was probably here.

The doctor walked in nervously, knowing my temper, he was most likely preparing himself to be hit by a flying object as he was moving in with a slight crouch and with his hands above his head.

"Hehehe. Hi Yuri-chan." I forgot when we got to the stage where we were on a nickname basis but he always had called me by that name or some variation of it. "I had told my Sensei about your... Recovery and he wished to ask you a few questions." He was picking his words carefully.

It really pissed me off.

"What are you hiding?" I ignored his attempts to be friendly with me. My mood was already sour and now it was getting on edge.

A shorter man with balding hair pushed him aside and strode in. His face looked a little like Mikoto's favourite frog mascot. No. I do not feel bad for comparing him to a frog.

He wore a lab coat with the sign of Academy City over a black shirt and pants and was flanked by a woman wearing identical clothing with several piercings on her face. Behind him, were a squadron of robots that did not seem too different from the Mechs I had seen fighting with Dark Matter the other day. They were called Radio Sound or something... I forgot. Heh. Screw my memory.

"Allow me to introduce myself," he said with a slightly raspy voice as if he had a sore throat. His pronunciation was spot on though. "I am known as Heaven Canceller and this is my assistant Vento." Gesturing towards the woman, she nodded and gave a rather pleasant smile. Contrasting to the piercings on her face. "Terra over there is another one of my students and that's why he came to me when he saw your recovery."

I turned my eyes towards my doctor and glared at him, making him cower behind Heaven Canceller.

"Sorry for coming without any notice. But to me, your recovery is unheard-of in the medical world." He noticed me looking at the robots suspiciously. "Ah, these are Military Oil Mechs. They were leased to me by one of my colleagues. I am not supposed to be out of the City so they are for my protection."

By now, I was fully awake and on edge. If this guy was important enough to be supposed to be locked in that City, what the hell was he doing here?

"Why are you here?" Hostility dripping from my voice. The doctor simply smiled and went straight to the point.

"How did you recover?"

There was no sugarcoating it. All he wanted w as to know how I recovered from such a condition.

Why?

Probably because I was the first.

Doctors like them are always like that. Before I came to this hospital and got treatment from Terra, many doctors had said that it was pointless to try to avoid getting treatment for repairing nerves and had told me that I should sacrifice myself to help others with the same condition as me, my albinism, to 'heal'. Needless to say I gave them the finger and left.

"How I recovered?"

Before I could think of an excuse, the white keychain on my bed transformed into a lion sized Rhinoceros Beetle. However, compared to his usual transformations, Dark Matter looked a little... Different from normal.

Instead of being completely snow white, the beetle had silver highlights on its shell, and the areas surrounding it's eyes were black. Its eyes were green and it's horn had glowing red lines flowing from the tip which was shaped more like a IS-2's turret than a horn... I've been listening to Haimura so much that I made a tank reference on my own.

What's happening to me?

The beetle's wing casings opened and a boy with grey hair, a brown leather vest and a black shirt with black highlights as well as purple pants emerged.

He looked like a model to be honest. With delicate features like the typical pretty boy and the slightly cocky smile of someone who knew that he was invincible.

All that ensured that he was not my type. I liked the normal looking kind. Like Haimura much more.

"Well, I healed her. Do you remember me?" He grew angelic wings on his back. The wings spread out, exposing it's silvery two meter wing span.

"Do you remember me? Heaven Canceller?"

======Heaven Canceller=========

Fifteen years ago.

Shit.

There are too many...

"CANCELLER! WE NEED YOU HERE!" Nurses and other doctors shouted and screamed my name as I hurried down the halls and corridors that were soaked with blood.

Too... Many...

Another hallway meant more corpses. Another corridor meant more people on stretchers.

Emergency room... I threw open the doors, seeing only more people covered in blood.

I looked to the overall in-charge of the hospital. I had been away from it for a week to give a masterclass to some people in America and this happens. Why did this happen here in all places? Academy City? Seriously?

"Ah! Kajou-san! What happened?!"

I had only a rough understanding of what happened from news reports. Even then, they could not be classified as a report as the reporters themselves were panicking and very few actual facts were released. All I knew for certain was that something horrible had happened and many people were injured, dead and dying.

"Heaven Canceller..." She barely had the energy to talk. "We... We've had almost three hundred people come here... The hospital can't take anymore..."

Nodding, I got to work. If no one could tell me what happened, all I can do was help out with this... Mess.

After working on patient after patient, the nurses realized that the number of stretchers and beds for the injured who had been treated by my team and I were soon running out. Soon, they would have to push off the dead from their stretchers and place the injured on them. Call it inhumane if you will but this is the most logical and efficient way to save as many people as possible.

They don't call me Heaven Canceller for nothing. 0% failure in the operating room.

* * *

*Beep Boop*

My phone?

Picking it up with bloodstained gloves, I put it to my ear, coloring half my head in blood.

"Heaven Canceller," this voice sounded calm, but on the verge of panic.

"I know you have been busy, but can you take in another two hundred patients?"

My eyes widened and I almost dropped the phone.

Another two hundred?

We barely had the supplies to help those that are already here. Since over three hundred were dead, around one hundred had come to the hospital already dead and we had only managed to save a measly two hundred, the hospital only had enough bandages, antibiotics and disposable appliances to treat those people.

There is a reason why they are called 'disposable' it either means that they will be too contaminated after single use to be used on another person or the appliance will have broken.

"We can barely take in another fifty. What in the world happened? The nurses here are too shocked to tell me? And why is there this sudden swarm of people needing treatment?! Why are there no other hospitals?"

I asked so many questions that the person on the other side probably forgot half of them.

"Well, this is under the City's management... But I guess I'll tell you." The voice sounded muted for a second. Probably taking to someone else.

"Okay. We've switched over to a secure line. The City had tried to take control of a gemstone."

A gemstone?

An esper?!

The voice continued before I could reply. "She is about seven so the higher ups decided to use a her as a test subject to try and get her power." he sighed "they thought she was harmless."

I would thought the same thing. A seven year old girl would seem harmless at fist glance.

"But when she noticed she was being taken to a suspicious looking warehouse that was converted to an experimentation site... She burnt it to the ground and went on a killing spree."

What?

"Her ability is 'Meltdowner'. I am not too sure about the details but it forces electrons to move in a wave and accelerates them, causing them to become a powerful beam weapon... Or something like that. I am only in charge of the private army."

Huh. The private army? "And you are?"

"Hmm? Oh my apologies, I didn't give you my name. I am Misaka Tabigake, overall in-charge of the Academy City private army."

I raised an eyebrow. He must be new. I have never heard that name before.

"And this sudden influx of patients are soldiers I take it."

"Yes. After being taken by the negotiators, she noticed the warehouse. I don't know what the higher ups wanted by bringing her to that sort of place. But they probably wanted more than just a blood test."

The emergency doors opened again, another patient was wheeled in. The stretcher was already died red. He was most likely already dead.

"So in short, she got pissed. Very pissed and fired her lasers everywhere, completely destroying districts thirteen, fifteen and twenty-one. Including the base structure of the Endymion Orbital Elevator. There were many casualties caused by the seventy meter tall building collapsed but most of them came from districts thirteen and fifteen which are industrial areas and therefore contain reactive chemicals. You can guess what happened."

If the reports I got last month about the 'Meltdowner' was correct, the electron wave cannon that was projected as an attack was of extremely high heat, easily melting through metal and concrete.

And that was when she was holding back.

"So the industrial estates exploded."

"For lack of a better word, yes. The army had come in to distract her and most of the casualties the hospitals received earlier were the people there."

That explained the burns, lacerations and more. Shockwaves from the explosions could break bones while the chemically caused fires could not be easily put out by water. Even then, debris and scaffolding would collapse or even fly from the force behind the explosions, hitting and injuring people.

"So we sent in our soldiers behind tanks to try and distract her or even take her out. Needless to say it failed. Her laser punched through our tanks and skewered the people behind them. We suffer seventy percent casualties and the rest are too scared to move. All the other hospitals are filled so we need your help."

I understood the situation and I wanted to help. But the circumstances told me otherwise.

If I rejected them, I would be considered a monster and they would die.

If I admitted them, many of them will still die and we will not have enough supplies to treat most of the patients here.

I looked to my nurses and doctors. Despite the obvious fear and panic on their bloodstained faces and clothes, they looked at me with determined eyes, as if knowing what my conversation was about.

"Send them in."

* * *

"Heaven Canceller!"

"We're out of bandages!"

"Last bottle of antibiotics!"

"Clean the floor before a bacterial swarm forms!"

We are done.

Despite having saved about forty of the soldiers, many more were awaiting us. In addition, two of the other five hospitals in the city had run-out of space for patients and were sending them over to us.

We had four hundred people waiting for us.

Nurses and doctors stepped in puddles of blood and the dead were thrown behind the counter to hide their faces. Most of the morale had dropped and even I was starting to feel tired of this.

Then something amazing happened.

The pools of blood turned white.

I was told that all the other hospitals also noticed it.

Spiders, made of some white material emerged from the puddles like whales surfacing from the ocean to breathe. They moved quickly and mechanically, making webs to serve as bandages and their fangs to inject antibiotics and painkillers. Even more of them soon came and wrapped the dead in white body bags.

And the last to appear was a Rhinoceros Beetle the size of a car. With a brown haired boy riding it like the King of some country would ride on a royal steed and wave to the commoners.

He smiled at me and said only one sentence before disappearing with his army of insects.

"If you ever feel abandoned or helpless, call out of me and I will come."

Then he opened his angelic wings and disappeared with his army of insects.

~~~~~~~~~Yuriko~~~~~~~~~~

Present.

The frog-faced doctor has been standing there for... Five minutes? Is Dark Matter such an amazing sight?

The woman standing beside him... Vento I think her name was. She and Terra were gaping at the size of the Beetle.

Dark Matter has been standing there silently with that cocky grin of his all the while, a white water-like liquid oozed from the beetle's legs and spread around the room.

"You are... That boy..."

"Yes, yes I am."

Heaven Canceller looked like a toad now. With his jaw hanging open and eyes widened. The other two doctors were no better. Both of them looking like children seeing an elephant for their first times.

I don't know what came over me, but I started laughing hysterically at them. It seemed to break the spell that my visitors were in and jolted them back into reality.

"You healed her?" The doctor asked Dark Matter.

"Yes. I did it as a favor for a friend." The boy cringed and looked at me hesitantly after noticing me poisonous glare.

"Heheh... I did it as a favor at first but I kinda got attached to her." He said with a shrug and a cautious look at my face...

I had a bad feeling about this. But... Meh. I'll deal with it when these three are gone.

"So how did you do it?" The Canceller asked. "How?"

"I simply cut her open, took out the damaged vertebrae, put replacements out of Dark Matter, fixed the nerves with Dark Matter too... That's about it."

All of the three doctors looked at him with annoyed and deadpan expressions. Most likely due to him speaking about a highly invasive surgery without worry and being able to carry out that surgery like it was fixing a toy.

Heaven Canceller harrumphed, "well, I heard from Terra that she has some brain damage and damaged nerves in her legs. Did you fix those as well?"

"Nope." He grinned. "I don't like dealing with brains and the she's better off like that. If she has full control of her legs... I am afraid for the lives of household appliances that may get destroyed in a single hit."

Noticing someone had picked up my crutch and left it standing beside me bed, I launched it at him.

* * *

After the boring conversation continued, I want to say that I paid attention and stuffs but i zoned out and stoned while staring at one of the robots. I loved the idea of putting clothes on them. These robots without clothes just look... pathetic.

"Whew, they're gone!" The boy fell over on his beetle which transformed into a bed.

Ah its over! I didn't even realize that they left. That's how much I was stoning.

"So why did you act so high and mighty if it's unnatural for you?"

Dark Matter seemed to be acting earlier. Normally, he was a nice and kinda caring guy towards me but in front of our visitors, he acted like he was some kind of God.

"Well, it's the intimidation factor." He said with a wistful look on his face. "A long time ago, a good friend of mine, his name was Gilgamesh, was the first Attack Crash gemstone to be born. His unexplainable power made him a godlike figure amongst the people and his attitude allowed him to stand upon the Great Ziggurat of Ur and become a legend."

Heh... I am not gonna tell him but I have no idea what he was talking about. History is not one of my strong points.

"He told me that arrogance is key to earning the respect of others... Though he overdid it, his power kept him in that godly position for years. There still is a statue of him in one the the temples there. And a piece of literature called the 'Epic of Gilgamesh.' Its quite a good book in my opinion."

Noticing my blank look, he facepalmed and gave up on me, turning back into a keychain. "I think you should go back to sleep now. That talk with the doctors took a while. It's already five."

"Seriously? Now when I am awake I should go to sleep?"

"Well, it's not like I planned it even though I knew he would come." The dragonfly's wings buzzing and creating a voice.

"How did you know he would come?" I asked while lying down on the bed while looking at my phone's wallpaper, making me miss Haimura all of a sudden.

He turned back into a boy and sat on the edge of my bed. "Everytime I helped someone recover, be it an act of good will or at some big disaster or even just helping one of my friends, he would appear."

"That explains why he was thanking you as if giving praise to a god." I smirked at him.

"Heh."

"Oh yeah. What do u call you? I'm sick of calling you some long name like Dark Matter or Rhinoceros Beetle or Dragonfly."

He had a twisted grin. "How about..."

===Academy City Underground===

"So has Heaven Canceller been found?"

"Yes. He has returned to the City on his own."

"Good. I wouldn't want to kill him. Yuuitsu. How long more till the Shaggoths are ready?"

"About. Five to six more hours before they develop self propulsion."

"Good. Send them out the moment you do."

=At a hot spring somewhere in Japan=

"This is a nice place you have here." The man looked around the hot spring.

The hot spring was located in the middle of a forest. Beside it was a large 'wooden' house made of Dark Matter. A dirt trail nearby would take one out of the forest after a two hour long walk which would bring them to rolling hills where a antique weapons creator and collector named Ollerus lived with his wife Brunhild and his children Othinus, Thor and Marian.

They often held family dinners, inviting the Rhinoceros Beetle, his wife and the Attack Crash, Sogita Gunha who lived in a hand made house on the outskirts of the forest

"Why thank you. I made it with some help from my dear."

The man grinned and asked the boy, "So... what do you think Noukan's plan is?"

The man named Aleister Crowley was sitting in the hot spring with the boy and a woman. He was drinking some kind of cocktail while the couple was drinking some soft drink.

"Hmm... Not sure but I do know that he has control of some of my Dark Matter. I didn't expect that he would be able to use the Dark Matter that I created for medical uses and change it into a parasite." The boy took a sip of his drink. "Once it develops a mind of its own without my help, I can't control it."

He was smacked on the head by the woman.

"Ow Fraulein. What was that for?"

"That was for you being careless and letting him meddle with your Matter despite me warning you that it might be dangerous."

She promptly slapped him again.

"Aww c'mon! Come here let me make it up to you."

The following scene was a bit too disturbing to be mentioned in front of a PG audience. Even Aleister crept out of the bath slowly.

Luckily for him, he wasn't noticed.

* * *

A.N. Weeee that took a while. i sure took my time making this cos i have exams coming and a few performances lined up. DONT WORRY! NEXT WEEK! TANKS VS SHAGGOTHS. SHIPS VS SHAGGOTHS. MATTER VS MECHS. YURIKO VS... not gonna tell.

As usual, i hope you liked it and i hope you can pass me your thoughts in the reviews... i really should edit the story summary at the first chapter rite?

MarkJ : THANKS! i hope you like this one. i hope you are not too confused becos i admit that the start of this arc was a more than a little shaky though if i dare say so, i have kinda gotten hold of it. the next one will be a test of how well i can do action scenes hehe. I read the twist of fate that you recommended me but i didn't add it as a fav hehe *embarrassed face* mbmb XD

Riyangedut: THANKS FOR REVIEWING! yeap! some out of universe characters will appear as cameos. usually short one chapter ones. the next one will have some from GuP, DxD, Haifuri and maybe Kancolle? just for the names of the ships. hehe. as for Baka-Tsuki, i usually make pdfs of the books even before the pdf download links are available XD TOO MUCH HYPE FOR NT16!

Finally, if i take longer than a week for the next one, i promise that it will be longer than normal... though its cos of my annoying exams.


	15. Chapter 14

Chapter 15

"YES! I'm free!" I shouted at the top of my lungs as I waltzed out of the hospital... I WANT to say waltzed but it was more of a quick hobble.

"Suzushina-san... You should be more careful..." One of the nurses, Ryou, said with a soft voice. She knew not to spoil my good mood. The same couldn't be said for her twin sister though...

"Oi Suzushina-chan! You are gonna fall over if you keep that up!" Roy's sister Kyou looked at me with disapproving eyes. "You may have had a miraculous recovery but your leg is no better than before."

I had found out this morning that Terra had allowed me to be discharged and his pride made him reject payment from my parents as he 'did not do anything' to heal me.

Thank God he didn't say anything about Beetle boy.

"Heheh.. sorry Kyou-san... I'm really excited after being cooped up in there for so long." I had been under their care for a long time. A few months ago after I got hit by a car, these two nurses were the ones who stayed up late to watch over me… though I only just found out their names.

"It's alright" Ryou said in her soft voice while Kyou just grinned and gave me a thumbs up. "Suzushina-chan. School hasn't ended so if you hurry, you can surprise that boyfriend of yours."

Boyfriend? I don't have one… I started to think of a rebuttal but Kyou's coy grin made me realize who she was talking about.

My face went tomato red. "Ah... We're not together together... Yet..."

She slapped my back. "You said 'yet'! So sooner or later you will! Now go and surprise him and your other friends!"

"Haha thanks! Thank you for taking care of me!" I bowed my head... Kinda. It wasn't much of a bow but more of a nod.

"Don't worry about it! It's our job!" Kyou winked. "Yeah. I hope we don't have to treat you again but visit us if you are free!" Ryou said as a goodbye.

Those two were really nice. Waving goodbye a final time, I walked to the nearby bus stop where a certain brown haired boy was waiting for me.

"Hey."

"Hey."

He raised an eyebrow and whined "No thanks for me like you thanked those nurses?"

Narrowing my eyes, "Not after what you said last night." I finished sharply. He will never be forgiven for that.

I flagged down the arriving bus.

"Aww c'mon! It was a joke!" He ran into the bus as well and dropped a few Dark Matter coins as payment since he didn't have the tap-to-pay card.

"Nope."

"Please?"

"Nope."

"I just asked you to call me your 'great and almighty handsome savior'!"

He shouted that last part unintentionally, garnering the attention of everyone in the bus. "Hehe... My bad... Sorry Yuri-" he didn't finish his sentence.

Of course, the reason for him being cut off was me smacking him with my crutch.

"We are not on a first name basis." I sat down and closed my eyes, ignoring his whines and calls for attention.

* * *

"So you will be staying with me for the rest of my life?" I asked him incredulously.

"Nahhh. Unless you want me to."

"I do not want that."

I was reaching the school gate. The gate in question was atop a small hill from the bus stop which was a pain to climb.

The boy... I will call him the boy. He made me look like I was into some master servant play. Had told me that he will have to stay nearby me for some undisclosed reason.

"A few months is a long time you know? And I want some privacy. I do not want a Rhinoceros Beetle following me around!" Glaring at him, I tried to pick up my pace. It wasn't working.

He facepalmed. "You are still angry about that?"

"Yes."

"Okay fine. You have my apologies but I won't intrude your private life and your time with your boyfriend." He took a step back from my poisonous glare, raising his hands as a reflex of self-defense. "I will just be a keychain... and I am pretty much married to someone already." He mumbled the last bit.

"Married?" I started to smile but fought the urge to laugh. "Your immortal aren't you? How could you find someone to match you. And you're such a narcissist that I doubt you could bow down to a... Hahahah... Partner... Ahahahahah!" I lost it at the end of the sentence.

The boy looked at the ground in embarrassment. So he DOES have feelings like embarrassment after all. "Yeah... she's kinda immortal too though she's not a gemstone."

That perked my interest. "So who is she?"

"Have you heard of Fraulein Kreutune?"

"Ah... No..?" The only things I knew about history were things that happened within the past one hundred years. If the name sounded like a medieval Englishwoman's name, I immediately went into my 'I have no idea ' mode and gave a blank face.

"She was a person from the dark ages who I saved with Dark Matter after she was trailed for being a witch." He seemed pretty embarrassed. "I had liked her for quite awhile but I was away when she was burnt."

"W-what? BURNT?!" The hell? Who burns people alive? Damn whites. And they call us extremists.

"Yeah. The church used to burn people who they deemed as witches due to them showing supernatural powers or abilities. Sometimes, those people were gemstones but once in while, some people called Saints who have the same bodily characteristics as a holy man called Jesus."

Oh god... Another long rant... I had time to listen though... It's still a long climb up this damn hill.

"They simply have stronger bodies than normal... Which some people saw as demonic. Well... Its kinda understandable when they can run at the speed of sound a pick up a horse without breaking sweat."

"You're expecting me to believe that people like that exist? And that Jesus is not just a religious figure?" Despite all the things about gemstones that he told me, even I had a hard time believing something like that.

"I can't say for sure he was a God. But I do know he was a great guy. I didn't get the chance to talk to him but the aura that he gave off was so clean, it was as if he was purifying the earth wherever he went."

"Didn't he die or something? I heard he was killed by his own people or something..." I made an excuse for myself to be totally in the dark about this topic. "Christianity is not strong here in Japan. Only Christmas as actively celebrated... I think. So mind my ignorance."

He smiled and laughed a little. "Yeah no problem. So yeah. My... I wanna say wife but I haven't exactly proposes to her yet though it seems like she wouldn't mind friend was a friend of mine back in the day. But when she was burnt, I was away..." The boy had a sad look on his face that I had never seen before. But he noticed and forced a smile. "Luckily I got back in time and saved her. Though she was so injured that almost seventy percent of her body was made up of Dark Matter. Still is up to this day. That's why she can live for so long."

And that concluded today's story. That boy always has these kinda long stories. Some more believable than others.

"Anyway, it seems we have arrived at your school." He tapped my shoulder and ruffled my hair. Good thing I like my hair messy. "I'll be a keychain on your wallet. If you ever need help, press the button on my belly."

He promptly changed into a Rhinoceros Beetle keychain and hung himself on my wallet that was sticking out quarter way from my pocket. Shaking my head and laughing to myself at his attitude, I strode into the school... In old clothes that I haven't changed for a few days.

Who knows how bad I smell... The beetle buzzed. The boy's voice emitting from a small speaker on its horn. "You stink of sleep. Go take a shower."

How the hell does he know what I'm thinking?

The voice came again. "I have good intuition."

Ugh.

Hobbling over to the general office, I scared the office worker by appearing so suddenly.

"Hello?" I asked cautiously. "I am Suzushina Yuriko... A student here... I just got discharged from the hospital?"

The receptionist... Teacher... Office worker?

I have no idea what to call her since I rarely come here. She replied me with a shaky voice, eyes scanning me like a police officer. "Uhh... Yeah... Student... Okay..." She tapped a few keys into the computer. "Okay! Suzushina-san, do you have a uniform? You are late,"

'No shit' I thought to myself but remained quiet so as to not scare off the professionalism returning to her voice.

"But that isn't a problem since you were recently discharged. Classes end in two hours... Do you have a uniform?"

"Nope."

"Uhh... " Aaaand her professional mode was thrown off. "You can take an extra from the nurses office... Do you not have a bag too?"

Realising that I was an idiot for not bringing my bag, I figured I could get that boy to make a replica bag for me and told her that I had it outside.

"Okay! Go over the infirmary... You know where it is right?"

"Yep."

"Alright. Go get some clothes and you can join classes."

Leaving the office, I noticed her take a big sigh and fanning herself with her hand... Only to have a parent of some other student run in and throw her off again. Hehe. It really isn't her day today.

As I was thinking about what kind of entrance I should make when I returned to class, I was interrupted by...

"Azunyan! Come join us! It's fun!"  
"Hai! Hai! Mio-san! You join us too!"  
"This really is fun! You two should join us too!"

Three girls rolling across the floor.

Judging by their uniforms... They were probably second years except for that black haired one with the ponytails chasing after them. She was probably a first year.

The three rolling past had brown and blonde hair. The two with brown hair looked almost identical to me and the only thing separating each other was that one has a yellow hairband while the other had hair clips. The last girl had long wavy blonde hair... Cute.

As they rolled past me, a girl with straight black hair stopped in front of me as the younger one ran past, chasing and screaming after the other three.

"Sorry about them... They're idiots."

I burst out laughing. She was probably the older sister type. "Hahahahahaha! I know how you feel. I don't judge. Now go stop them."

Smiling and nodding, the girl ran off. She seemed nice. And I understood her pains. If taking care of three immature friends was such a pain, it was actually nothing compared with dealing with my four sisters. Especially Worst and Last Order. Huh. I am in a really good mood today.

Arriving at the infirmary, I knocked on the door and was greeted by a small girl with white hair wearing a hair band with cat ears.

It seems that the school was weirder than I thought.

"Welcome to the infirmary. I can't let you in now as Rossweiss-san is scolding Rias-sama and Issei for misconduct. I will help you from here."

I stood there with a blank expression as I overheard someone who appeared to be the nurse scream: "WHY WERE YOU TWO TRYING TO DO THAT IN SCHOOL?!"

How am I supposed to react?!

"Ehh... Uhh..." It was my turn to stutter. Karma for making fun of that receptionist earlier. "I need a uniform."

Nodding with a serious expression and moving with the efficiency one would expect of a maid, the girl left and returned with a set of uniforms... In the correct size.

"My estimations should be correct. If they are the wrong size, please come back. If there fit well, please return them tomorrow after washing." She tipped her head in goodbye and slammed the door shut.

I didn't even get to say thanks... The girl looked kinda familer though... I looked out the window and saw a poster on the school wall.

It was a picture of the white haired girl from earlier wearing cat paw design punching gloves. The words 'Boxing club idol Koneko Toujou wins the highschool level National boxing competition again!' spread out across the roughly five meter long poster.

No wonder I found her familiar.

Shaking my head, I went to change then attempted to find my class.

Keyword : attempted.

Emphasis on : attempted.

* * *

I gave up after an hour of searching. They were not in class or any of the science labs. Neither were they in any of the computer labs and I had just left the music room where I hoped they would be in. Most of the other classes were full too. Even one of the student council girls, Madoka had come and asked me what I was doing. Since she saw me walking past the student council room several times. Eventually, I was taken to Musujime-san who was done with lessons and was cleaning her tank.

"Ah hi Suzushina-san! Are you feeling better? I heard you were in the hospital for a while." She wiped off some sweat and let go of the water pipe, allowing it to squirm like a dying snake and completely drench the other two girls who were cleaning another tank.

"Hehe yeah. I just got discharged and came back... Do you know you know where is my class?"

She smiled coyly at me. "Ohh... Looking for Kano-san eh. Lucky guy. His class is in the hall for P.E."

I slapped my head. So that's where they were. I had never thought of that possibility. "Thanks Musujime-san." I thanked her as I took my leave.

"Heh. No problem! Thanks for visiting!" She called back in reply as she wrestled the squirming pipe and drenching the other committee girl Madoka who glared at her in annoyance.

Soon after, I passed by the teachers office and noticed that many of them were crowded around a radio. The new report was being broadcasted on all channels it seemed.

A professional sounding voice that didn't sound like the regular newscasters was repeating a statement of some sort.

'of large unidentified organic balls are moving across the countryside and are moving towards the city. The JSDF recommends that all residents of Tokyo stay indoors and'

A teacher slammed the door shut when he noticed me eavesdropping.

I considered tapping the button in my keychain but decided against it. If something major like that was happening, I'm sure that boy would take care of it. And I didn't want to spoil my bad mood.

Leaving the office and the thought of an imminent threat behind me, I went to meet up with my class.

=========In a forest===========

In a large and rather glamorous cabin in the forest made of wood and Dark Matter that looked more like a mansion than a cabin, a boy his partner and a guest were in the living room relaxing.

A boy with brown hair scratched his head as he watched a live feed from one of his scouting insects. Despite sitting on a soft sofa, he looked extremely tense.

Some kind of organic balls made of modified Dark Matter were moving across the country side. They seemed to have come from Academy City and were consuming everything in their path.

A woman with pale hair came up beside and watched the video with him.

"Is that from one of your flies?" She questioned.

"Yes." He replied with a serious expression. "So that's what that dog is planning eh?" the question was not directed to her, but to a man lying on the wooden floor behind to sofa.

Another man with white hair that reached his legs popped up from behind the sofa in a kneeling position and peered over the boy's shoulder.

"Most likely." As he got up, he picked up his hair to make it easier to walk. "He probably wants to make his own Dark Matter gemstone. But this method of collecting body mass to create an independent hive mind won't work... Will it?"

The boy sighed and lay down on the sofa in a resigned manner. "No it won't. But they capture some of my Dark Matter... They will create a rival gemstone."

The woman's eyes widened and sat up abruptly.

"Yeah. I'm recalling all my scouts from the entire region except for high altitude ones to make sure that does not happen."

As he said that, a swarm of white flies, beetles, moths, butterflies and dragonflies started to stream into the forest and completely cover the mansion.

"But I am not called Dark Matter for nothing."

He clicked his tongue and pointed a finger at one of the insects that were visible from a nearby window. The insect changed form, becoming a giant hornet the size of an attack helicopter. It's stinger replaced by some sort of projectile weapon that looked like a gatling gun.

The man smirked and asked, "You think you can beat them? Without a single loss?"

Grinning in reply, the boy smiled kindly at him. Almost as if pitying the man.

"No. I will be attacking that beloved city of yours. Someone else will deal with those... Abominations."

====A cabin at a country side=====

A small fly appeared to a man named Ollerus who was teaching his daughter how to make a crossbow from scratch.

========Academy City=========

"Are the Shaggoths making good progress?" A dog asked a young woman.

"Hai hai sensei. Don't worry. The have made good progress and would have reached Tokyo in half an hour... If the stupid army didn't show up and slow them down." The woman flicked her hair in annoyance.

Kihara Noukan remained calm. "How many are left?"

"Fifty left our labs and they managed to climb till there were almost two hundred thanks to livestock." she replied with a laugh. "The army took down around twenty before they learnt that they learnt that rank shots could kill them." Four of them went to the coast while the rest are hunkered down and trying to change forms." She finished with a scowl.

"Hmm... Good. It seems they can forcibly evolve when under extreme circumstances. Fascinating." Kihara Noukan stepped out of the room. "Keep watching them and notify me if anything interesting happens. The JSDF will probably call for help from the other countries. I need to prepare the Five Overs."

"Sure thing sensei."

~~~~~~~~~Yuriko~~~~~~~~~~

Basketballs hitting the wooden floor and the familiar wail of Touma when he got hit on the face. That was the clearly audible sound coming from the hall despite me being five meters away from the closed doors the barred excess to the hall. For some reason, I already knew that it was Fukiyose that threw the ball at Touma.

Slowly and uncertainly, I opened the door and was welcomed by a questioning glare from Yomikawa sensei before she recognized my face and welcomed me, blowing her whistle and gathering the class.

"Your friend Suzushina-san has returned!" She shouted like a drill sergeant even before they gathered.

"Yuriko!" I heard Haimura shout from the other end of the hall and his footsteps thundered and echoed through the wooden flooring.

Within seconds, he had reached me and embraced ne in a hug... Heh. You have no idea how much I missed this. A few weeks with a guy could do this to you... Love is a scary thing...

Did I just say 'love'?

Before I could develop that thought, whistles and cheers erupted from everyone in the class. Even Yomikawa sensei was mock wiping off a tear and clapping.

Haimura whispered in my ear. "Heh... Shit. I forgot about them."

I burst out laughing at his impulsiveness.

* * *

Haimura and I were walking home together. More like he was walking me home but screw details. We had spent the day catching up with Touma and Fukiyose. I even met Touma's sister Index today.

All I can say about her is that she is a glutton. Yes, she went to a Catholic school. Yes, she wore a nuns habit. And yes, her habits were less that holy and more like the epitome of gluttony.

Eating ten bowls of ramen? That was insanity.

"So how are you? We haven't had time like this for quite a while." His voice was abnormally quiet.

The soft sounds of leaves being crushed underfoot and the chirping crickets made a nice atmosphere.

"Hmm? I'm fine." Smiling at his question, I started to walk a little closer to him.

He hesitated in his breathing for a second before saying, "You seem... Different."

Eh? The hell?

"What was that?" I wanted to make sure I wasn't getting him wrong.

"I said you seem different and its kind of a-" I cut him off by glaring at him. Then stopping dead in my tracks, I faced him and pushed him backwards, almost making him fall.

Eyes widening, he caught himself before he fell and avoided dirtying his clothes on the mud. "What? Yuriko?"

His surprise made me angry for some reason. "Is that all you have to say?!" I my voice became a scream... Or shout. Take your pick.

"I sat there in the hospital with nothing to do and all you have to say is that I seem different?!"

Despite knowing that I was being selfish, I couldn't stop those words from coming out of my mouth.

"Even though you knew that I was saved by someone else despite YOU being the one who promised me that you'd be there for me, I didn't mind. I went through all kinds of trouble and I still tried to be as positive as possible. Yeah you couldn't have healed me. You don't have supernatural powers so that's fine. But the least you could do is... I DON'T KNOW? MAYBE A LITTLE CARE?! ALL YOU CAN SAY NOW IS THAT I SEEM DIFFERENT?!"

Yeap I was being selfish.

~~~~~~~~Haimura~~~~~~~~~

"I sat there in the hospital with nothing to do and all you have to say is that I seem different?!"

Was she so badly affected by it? I looked back on what I said. She took that in the wrong sense. What I meant was that she seemed more happy. And that was great. Now I've got an angry Yuriko.

"Even though you knew that I was saved by someone else despite YOU being the one who promised me that you'd be there for me, I didn't mind. I went through all kinds of trouble and I still tried to be as positive as possible. You don't have supernatural powers so that's fine. But the least you could do is... I DON'T KNOW? MAYBE A LITTLE CARE?! ALL YOU CAN SAY NOW IS THAT I SEEM DIFFERENT?!"

Her face was flushed red and it almost seemed like she was floating off the ground. Even the light seemed to reflect off her body in weird ways and that made her image even more distorted.

"DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW MUCH I MISSED YOU?! YOU ARE MY ONLY FRIEND APART FROM MY SISTERS AND THAT WHAT YOU CAN SAY?! I SEEM DIFFERENT!?"

I blinked. This is bad.

Very bad.

Running up to her, I found that I couldn't reach her no matter how hard I tried. As if there was some sort of barrier around her. But I pushed on. She was only half a meter away but I had to way to reach her. Pushing against the barrier, I tried to reach for her arm.

For a moment, the clouds parted and I stared right into her beautiful red eyes that were glistening with tears.

Then I was hurled back. As if my hand was Reflected away.

My vision twisted and swirled. Probably because I was flying through the air. After a few seconds, I slammed into a tree, causing a large number of leaves to fall.

"Ugh..." I pushed myself up with my arms. Feeling the familiar sting and iron-like smell, I knew I had cut myself.

Looking forward to Yuriko, she stared at her right hand in disbelief and stumbled back.

"Uhh... Yuriko... Are you okay?"

She stared at me. The clouds had returned and covered the moon again, cloaking her face in shadow.

"What the..." Falling to the ground, it seemed the barrier had collapsed and she was taking deep breaths. Was that the power she spoke of? Vector Change?

I pulled myself up and ran to her but...

"NO!" Her voice wavered and she pointed her palm at me. A gale force wind forced me back, making me fall over again. "Stop… Don't come near me..." She murmured. I can't imagine how she was feeling right now but I still wanted to get to her.

"Yuriko. It's fine..."

"NO IT'S NOT!"

She mumbled something about impulsiveness and rose to her feet. "Do not follow me..." Her final warning echoed out, plunging the park into silence. Not even the insects were chirping.

Standing there in shock, I had no idea what to do. Despite her leaving me there for a good ten minutes, I still had not moved.

Ugh. She was making such good progress.

I hit myself on the head and collapsed beside a nearby tree. "Haimura... You idiot." I scolded myself. "How could you let her run away?"

"My thoughts exactly." A feminine voice came from the shadows ahead of me.

And out of the shadows stepped Worst. Her brown hair was tied up in a short pony tail and she was wearing shoulder guards and knee guards over a grey sweat shirt and black pants. Somehow, her footsteps made no sound even on the uncountable sticks and dried leaves on the ground.

Eh? I picked myself up quickly. If I remembered correctly, she was Yuriko's older sister Worst. "Are you Yuriko's sister?"

Ignoring my question, she shot me a few words "Idiot. Go chase after her. I was watching the whole time." Pointing her index finger at me, she taunted, "unless you are no longer the same guy that I remembered who tried to make her happy. Not the same guy who walked her home every night just to make her smile."

That struck a chord within me. I had tried so hard to get that light back into Yuriko's eyes. That light that I used to lack as well. Was I going to give up on that mission of mine?

"Thanks." I picked myself up and started to run in the direction Yuriko left in.

"Don't mind it kid." She dismissed me with a wave and returned to the shadows. Immediately after, the growl of a tank's engine emanated through the estate.

~~~~~~~~~Yuriko~~~~~~~~~~

How did I do that?

Earlier when I pushed Haimura away, it was less of me doing the work and simply a barrier blocking everything from touching me. I couldn't even feel the air around me for one or two seconds.

Tapping on the keychain, I asked the beetle frantically. "Hey! Beetle! My ability kinda activated. What should I do?" I questioned it a few more times but no reply came.

After a few more seconds of silence, I realized that he probably wasn't going to reply me.

"Ugh..." Coming to a stop at the park entrance, I heard the growl of Worst's tank starting. She used her tank like it was her car though she was banned from using the roads.

It was quiet compared to those that the Senshadou teams used because she used the modern Type 10 instead of the normal World War II era tanks the clubs used. She never used her tank a night though. Worst liked to walk to her nightclubs since the last time she drove back while drunk, the tank hit a building and destroyed a wall.

"Stupid beetle not answering when I need him... And why is Worst starting up her tank?"

I stumbled into the lighted pavement. It didn't seem like I was Reflecting anything away anymore. The fact that I could see was testament to that. I wouldn't be able to see if I was Reflecting the light away from my eyes wouldn't I?

Standing there for a while, I considered going home or running away. My reflection was dangerous. Especially to my family... I hope Haimura is okay. Wait... Why am I thinking if that insensitive bastard.

Muttering curses under my breath, I almost missed a low chirp coming from a nearby alleyway. It sounded more like a growl though. A bit like the sound of a rumbling stomach. But ten times louder.

"Hello?"

A whiteish tentacle tentatively moved from behind a pile of cardboard.

Dark Matter?

"Err... Beetle boy? Is that you?" Thinking that it was a prank of some sort, I asked out loud and walked towards the alley.

When I reached within a meters distance away from it, the tentacle retracted suddenly...

And the entire creature launched itself at me.

It was like those videos of an octopus launching its body and stretching it's tentacles to catch a fish.

That was exactly what it was like.

The body of the creature was a grotesque ball of flesh with fourteen tentacles outstretched and six more holding its position on the walls and floor. It's probably propelled itself but retracting then suddenly expanding the muscles in the tentacles.

"YURIKO!"

Eh? Haimura?

The collar of my shirt was pulled back and I could feel arms wrapping themselves around me. Haimura's face flashed in front of me for a split second before he pushed my face against his chest and used his body as a shield for me.

Then the familiar sound of a tank firing exploded through the entire neighborhood. A few warm drops of liquid sprayed over my legs and Haimura stiffened up from the sudden wetness.

"This... Feels disgusting." He complained as he helped me stand back up on my feet.

Worst's laugh came from behind me. "Nice one boy! Now go to our house and hunker up for a bit!"

"Worst? Why are you?" I was at a loss for words.

"Hehehe. Don't worry about me. Those things can't beat a tank. I wasn't invited into the Elite Panzer Arm for nothing!"

~~~~~~~~Haimura~~~~~~~~~

A while earlier.

"Uhh... Why are you in a tank?" I stopped mid dash and did a 180.

"The EPA called me to mobilize. Apparently the JSDF has problems with some ball-like creatures. Most of them are outside the city but a few made it in. All Senshadou teams and EPA members were activated two hours ago." She said with a wink.

Well, she had an excuse to be proud. If she was a member of the EPA, the Elite Panzer Arm, she is probably one of the top ten most skilled tankers in Japan.

The EPA is a group of people from all countries that have the Senshadou program. Beginning in Germany, the movement spread across the world and the best of each batch of graduating students were invited to join.

Many of their members were even better than the Japan Ground Self Defence Force. JGSDF for short. JSDF for shorter.

Her tank was painted black with green highlights along with the EPA symbol. The gun also had several markings, a red ring was painted every five centimeters, each with a number ten written in white.

"A-are those your kills?" I pointed to the gun barrel.

She frowned for a second before brightening up. "The rings? Yeah! One hundred and eighty four knockouts. And counting."

One hundred... And eighty four?

"Is that a record?"

"Nope. NOW STOP DAWDLING AND GO AFTER HER!"

Being shouted at by Worst pushed me out my daze and got me running after Yuriko a tank right on my heels.

After a few seconds of running, almost a minute to be exact, I arrived at the park entrance and saw Yuriko walking towards an alleyway. Some creature with tentacles was inside, it looked as if some hentai artist's impression of tentacle rape had come to life.

I sensed Worst's tank coming to a stop. That Type 10 was really quiet. I dashed to Yuriko, shouting to get her to move away from the creature. The creature lunged to Yuriko.

"YURIKO!" She jolted backwards at the sight of the creature.

Two more steps...

One more step...

I grabbed the back of her collar and pulled her towards me, turning my body to make a shield between her and the ball of doom.

Then Worst's tank fired.

It was a wonderful sound.

A low boom like a bass drum coupled with the sound of fireworks and the 'vroom' of oxygen combusting rapidly. Followed by the shockwaves emitted each time round went past the speed of sound.

When the round hit the creature, it spontaneously exploded, completely covering me in its blood. Despite being warm, it had this unnatural feel to it. As if it was not supposed to be from this world.

"This... Feels disgusting." I complained as I helped Yuriko stand back up on her feet.

Worst's laugh came from behind me. "Nice one boy! Now go to our house and hunker up for a bit!"

"Worst? Why are you?" Yuriko's confusion was understandable. Afterall, she was attacked by some monster and saved by her sister and me. An extremely unexpected combination.

"Hehehe. Don't worry about me. Those things can't beat a tank. I wasn't invited into the Elite Panzer Arm for nothing!" She boasted and signalled to her crew to move off. "Now go home for a bit and make up. Those things gotta be exterminated."

The tank rotated and sped off in the opposite direction and we caught a glimpse of a sticker saying 'Screw the army we are the Gods.'

We stood there in silence for a few seconds as we watched Worst disappear. It seemed that the earlier encounter had shaken her up. Earlier anger and fear of herself forgotten.

Yuriko pushed me away. "No need to stand so close to me."

I sighed. She was still annoyed with me though I knew that the incident had calmed her down… Slighly

"Yuriko... I'm sorry about that and thats not what I mea-" she cut my off by putting a finger on my lips.

"Not now. We gotta head back home before another one of those things appear. Can't you see that there is absolutely no one here?" Despite her face being twisted into an angry frown, knowing her for a month has allowed me to see past that façade of hers. She was still caring and was worried about me.

The five minute walk to her home felt unnaturally long. Not just because we were not talking but because there was almost no sound aside from cicadas and crickets.

Now that I thought about it, I hadn't seen any buses or cars since school ended. And there weren't many people walking around during the evening and we were practically alone in the night. Every dark corner was a suspicious place. Every shadow a potential enemy. Without Worst's tank, everything felt hostile.

"What did you mean by 'You seem different'?" Yuriko broke the silence and questioned me.

"Ah well…" I knew this was coming but did not prepare for it. So it caught me by surprise. "I meant it in a good way. As in you seem a lot happier now and I want to see if I am doing enough to help."

We walked past a flickering street lamp.

Yuriko maintained silence and looked at the floor, her walking pace constant. Never faster or slower.

Eventually, we arrived at Yuriko's home without incident. "I'm home!" She called out to whoever was home. "I brought a... Classmate!"

Classmate? I looked at her questioningly, to which she glared at me. Still angry I guess.

Her home seemed rather cozy. Behind the main door opened into a medium sized living room with a few windows, a sofa and a large flat screen television. Music was playing from a sound system connected to a laptop below the staircase. A small coffee table sat beside the sofa and on the opposite side of the house, a transparent sliding door led to a small garden which was fenced up and covered with grass and bordered by bushes and trees. The small door on my left led to a store room and the corridor led to what I guess was the kitchen. A staircase leading up to a second story was right beside the kitchen and the lights were switched off.

"Ah Yuriko that's good. Classmate you say? Isn't that the boy who visited you everyday since you went to the hospital?" Her mom appeared from the kitchen. "Your sisters stayed in school since the announcement and Shiage stayed at work as well. Safety precautions because of that warning."

A lightbulb appeared on her head. "Wait a minute... WHY ARE YOU TWO STILL OUT?! SHOULDN'T YOU HAVE STAYED AT SCHOOL?!"

We simultaneously sweatdropped.

~~~~~JSDF Commander~~~~~~

"What are those... things?" He flipped through reports of the sitings.

There have been forty three of them eliminated but another one hundred and fifteen remain. And they are increasing in number.

By somehow consuming the nearby livestock, they gain body mass and some of them seemed to be mutating.

And according to satellite data, another fifteen are on their way to the coast while thirty had breached Tokyo City.

All of these creatures had originated from Academy City's direction, making them the prime suspect of this. In addition to the unanswered inquiries and radio silence from the City, the army is willing to accept that they have committed treason and will request overseas help in two hours.

"Sorry Commander, but we have no idea." A girl with two large tufts of hair on the sides of her head that looked like fox ears answered him. "But we do know that they are a biological weapon."

"Do you think this is Academy City's doing?" The Commander asked another question, seemingly ignoring the answers that were given to him.

"All the evidence points to them so why not?" Before the girl finished her reply, another girl butted into the conversation.

"Commander Kamisato! Those things took out a tank!" She had long straight black hair that went down to her butt and a crown of plants on her head. Including the round spectacles on her face and the lab coat over her uniform made her look like the stereotypical scientist.

"They changed shape and launched one of themselves to a tank and somehow penetrated the armor! More of them are doing the same thing too!"

Another woman came through the video feed, this one with short black hair and emitting a professional aura in a tank. She was the overall commander for the tank branch, Ami Chono. "Our tanks have sighted Academy City mechs working with the creatures." A tank shot interrupted her. "We have confirmation of this. Call in support from the World police."

~~~~~~~~~Worst~~~~~~~~~~

"Woo! We got another one! How many more?" I cheered into the tank.

My three other crew members were less than enthusiastic and were complaining about losing sleep.

"Hai hai Worst. Now could you quiet down?" Megumi, my gunner looked to me with bored eyes.

"According to reports, thirty came in so we have to deal with another twenty four." Rumi the radio controller notified me.

Azumi simply yawned and ignored me.

They were so used to my antics that I rarely got the reactions I wanted. But that meant that I had to step up my game.

"Hmm... Fifteen huh. There are a few more teams right?" I tried to get their competitive spirit lighted.

"No. There other two were sent to the coast line. As for other operational tank teams… There's only A Certain Highschool's Senshadou team." Rumi answered again.

A Certain highschool... UMIDORI AND KINUHATA?!

In the face of protest and the potential scolding from the other three, I immediately called them on my cellphone, telling them to gather their team and join us on the hunt. To which they happily accepted.

I received three whacks on the head. One for bringing girls into this, another for breaching protocol since we were called in by the JSDF and the last for being the worst.

My name had to be lived up to.

We eventually stopped in front of the school. While taking out another two of those weird ball things. Good thing they can't attack our tank and stand up to our firepower.

That's why I love them. And occasionally buy cake for them.

"Kinuhata-san!" I screamed into the school compound.

Silence.

"You sure they're there?" Megumi took a shot at me.

"They are. Just wait."

And wait we did... Not for long though. Only about fifteen seconds before the sounds of tanks starting up could be heard. Then a blank round hit our tank.

"Did they just..." "Hit us?" "Before we could move?" The three of them completed each other's sentences.

"Heh. Thats Umidori-san for you."

A Panther appeared from behind a wall and punched a hole through the school gate which made me laugh till tears came. Even from my tank, I could hear Kinuhata's commander screaming at her.

Ahhhh... Working with them after so long is gonna be fun.

~~~~~~~~~Haimura~~~~~~~~

Heh... That's cute.

Along the bathroom wall, a tray was drilled in and on it sat several small bowls. A bit like those dipping sauce bowls. Each of them were labelled : Mikoto, Misaka, Reina, Manami and Yuriko respectively. In them were little Gekota bar soaps.

Teasing material

Though I better get Yuriko to calm down before I did that. Doing it now would be suicide.

By the way, I was taking a shower in Yuriko's bathroom. Hehe. Perfect cliché swap.

"Oi Haimura hurry up!" Yuriko called and hit the door with her fist.

At least she hadn't reverted to using my surname. I still had a chance for redemption!

Striking a determined pose, I quickly finished up cleaning. The blood from that ball dried up really quickly and I had to throw away the scrub that they lent me. It was like trying to remove barnacles from a whale.

"Yeah yeah. Chill." I considered teasing her for a bit before deciding to risk it.

"I like the soaps."

~~~~~~Yuriko~~~~~~

Soaps? What… soaps… oh no… he didn't. Eyes widening in realization, my panic button was activated. If he took a picture, not only would he have the perfect blackmail material, but also an opportunity to get more of such material.

My phone buzzed in my pocket. An image had been sent to me from Haimura. It was a picture of the soap trays with my sisters and my names on them, along with the Gekota soap bar designs.

I slammed on the toilet door. "OI GET OUT AND DELETE THAT PICTURE!" Hitting it a few more times, I missed him telling me that he was about to open the door. "Okay! I'm coming…" The door opened as I was about to use my momentum to hit it, making me fall on his… barely covered body.

Our eyes locked. The sensation of our bodies pressed up against each other was… more than awkward. Blood rushed to my cheeks and I struggled to get my crutch into a suitable position so I could get up. My face was less than three inches away from his and the feeling of heat coming from his body after the hot shower was extremely new to me. Apparently it was to him as well.

Then he started to blush even more and look away from me. "Err… Yuriko… do you mind if I pushed you off?" That was an odd question but I nodded. If we could get out of this situation as quickly as possible, it would be for the best. I still hadn't forgiven him completely though I knew that it was just a problem of misunderstanding, but I couldn't just get cozy with him can't I?

And I'm still unsure about whether its safe for the people around me now that I used my power without realizing it when I was angry.

As Haimura pushed me off so he could get up, my leg brushed between his and I felt something hard. He coughed and sped up his movements tenfold, putting me in a sitting position then hurriedly went to pick up the clothes that were set for him on the dining table before moving to the store room to change.

It took me about ten seconds to register what the hard thing was.

I screamed when I did.

* * *

A.N. HEY! 7.6k words?! YES!

MarkJ: Hehe good luck with your phone! Don't let it explode okay? Thanks for helping me thru this though from chapter 1 till now =D

I added a few cameos for this one. Maybe you can recognize them?

And i delayed the fighting by a week because its really... messy. hehe this one was supposed to be combined with the fighting to make a 14k word chapter but it was unrefined and i dont want a repeat of chapter 9... or somewhere around there. hehe

once again, THANKS FOR READING! please put your thoughts into the reviews.


	16. Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Ami Chono  
JGSDF chief armored battalion commander

0132 hours.  
Outskirts of Tokyo City. Agricultural area.

"REVERSE!"

Fifteen explosions rang out. More than a ton of dirt was thrown up from the ground.

"Holy... Shit..." My driver whispered. The tank behind us hadn't moved in time and was stuck in the frontal armor. The first round bounced off, thanks to the angles armor that we are so proud of. However, the subsequent three penetrated the armor and came out the other side, completely and utterly destroying it inside out.

We barely dodged that... Luckily we moved before the shots were launched.

To be honest, apart from our allied tank blowing up, the other 'explosions' weren't really explosions and more of projectiles hitting the ground at such high speed that it felt and looked like an explosion because of all the dirt that was thrown up.

For example, when an explosive shell hit the ground, it would bury itself then detonate. It wasn't the impact of the shell that caused the explosion but the internal explosives that did the work.

In this case, the projectiles were going so fast that it tore up the ground and destroyed buildings like they were paper.

What was launching these projectiles?

Bloody Academy City robots.

Looking like praying mantises, these monsters either hovered slightly above ground or stalked with several legs.

Their arms held weapons that fired magnetically accelerated balls of iron that reached speeds of over Mach 5. In addition, they were arranged into the shape of gatling guns, allowing them an incredible rate of fire.

"Commander. We have lost five tanks within the last three minutes. We either retreat or lose everything." My concerned driver looked to me and frowned, a serious expression on his face.

It was true though. We were doing well against those creatures. Even when they somehow modified themselves and launched their brethren at us like slingshots, they only managed to hit one tank.

And the tank in question was absorbed by the creature. The monster expanded its body and wrapped itself around the tank. All radio connection to the people inside was lost so we deemed them dead and fired at the tank till it exploded, killing the creature.

Back to the main topic, we were still doing well against them, only losing that one tank.

But the moment those robots entered the fray...

Things got ugly.

I popped my head out of the turret hatch to get a good look around.

The entire battalion was either hiding behind buildings or the destroyed husks of other tanks.

One of the robots fired. It was almost silent except for an electronic charging sound.

The projectiles tore right through a building and penetrated a tank, going straight through.

For a second, the tank seemed fine.

Then the engine ignited from the sudden impact and the entire tank detonated from inside out, launching the turret high into the air before it came crashing down as a burning case.

Forcing myself to return to the task at hand, the protection of the city, I ignored the screams coming from the radio and gave a calm command to focus fire on one of the robots.

If cover didn't work, why not try to take one of them out instead of dying before doing anything?

Then the radio crackled.

"Hey hey, no need to waste your lives. All of you fall back. I got this."

The voice sounded like some young boy.

"What? This is a secure connection. How did you-"

"SHHHH. Go retreat. I said I got this." The voice came back and interrupted me.

Immediately after, one of the robots spearheading the attack suddenly fell backwards, a massive five meter long metal arrow sticking out of its frontal armor.

"Once again, I implore you to fall back. This thing here is not very accurate but it packs one hell of a punch. I'm not sure if it can penetrate your angled armor but I don't think you want to try."

Hesitantly, I looked to my crew. Their sweaty faces were pale. If something that used primitive weapons to destroy robots that wiped the floor with top of the line armor vehicles, that thing held amazing power.

I gave the command to retreat.

~~~~~~~~~Ollerus~~~~~~~~~

"Thank you Marian for hacking their radio. And Thor for being so convincing." I smiled at my children. They were adopted but I loved them all the same.

"Hehe. Thanks." Marian replied with a wave of her hand.

"It was nothing." Thor lifted up yet another arrow to load into the ballista.

"No thanks to my aiming?" Othinus glared at me.

Heh. I forgot to thank her.

Sweatdropping, I frantically thought of a way to make her forget about that mess up of mine. Her tantrums really were the worst. Once, she had even pointed my ballista at me and tried to shoot me.

But she dismissed me with a wave of her hand before I could, returning to aim the ballista at another robot.

"Thank me later though. I need you to help load more arrows."

"..."

My kids talked to me like they were my bosses. Brunhild may have rubbed off a little too much on them.

"Fine. But remember that it's MY ballista." I grumbled and picked up an arrow from the pile beside me.

Even though I was the creator of the weapon, it was Othinus who had the best aim. I had made it too complicated for a man my age. And because she had one eye, she didn't need to wink when she put her eye on the aiming reticule.

The ballista in question was more like a crossbow than anything. The bow was seven meters wide and the terminal velocity it could launch its arrows was on par with a Battleship gun. Sitting on a rotating stand, it looked like a medieval anti-aircraft gun that could shoot down dragons.

It's five meter long standard ammunition however would be able to take down even Jörmungandr.

Modelled after the legend of Thor's hammer Mjolnir which he used to kill the snake, the arrows are meant to allow the user to kill the snake without having to even go near the snake and risk getting poisoned by its venom and dying as well.

Made out of cast iron mixed with titanium and a tungsten tip, each arrow was incredibly heavy and when launched, could deal more damage than a howitzer.

Othinus smiled as the action was automatically pulled back and Thor loaded the arrow. "Okay... Move away a little Thor, I'm gonna launch in three... two... one... FIRING!"

With a soft creak followed by the scream of the air being cut, the arrow flew true and penetrated the armor of another robot, going through its body and coming out the other side, burying itself in the ground.

By the way, Thor was lying about it being inaccurate.

"Heh, Othinus. When do you wanna try your custom arrow? It's been lying around for a while now." Thor questioned as he heaved up yet another arrow and loaded it into the ballista.

Othinus had a custom made arrow that she had forced me to teach her how to make after Brunhild had showed her hers.

Well, it was more of a spear than an arrow. And much too ornate to do much damage. Named after Brunhild's original spear called Gungnir that was designed with the shape of a tree in mind, Othinus's spear was much more delicate looking. It didn't even have a solid tip. Thor was probably provoking her to fire it. At four point five meters long, it would easily serve as good ammunition.

I kept silent and watched how this would pan out. If Othinus got angry she would happily point the entire ballista at Thor while he smiled defiantly at her. Even Marian who was fiddling with some electronics had stopped and looked at the two.

After a tense stare down, Othinus conceded and turned back. "I'll smack you later. Move back now. I'm gonna fire."

Whew. Crisis averted.

I picked up Marian looking at me with panicked eyes while waving her golden screwd at me.

"The GPS has detected something huge. Flying. And there's more than one." She said and pointed to my left.

I looked. A huge hunk of metal was floating in the air. Actually, it was several of them that were arranged in an order that made them look like one giant machine but still...

I rubbed my eyes, thinking I was delusional.

It's still there.

"What the hell is that?"

~~~~~Kamisato Kakeru~~~~~~~

"Commander. We are picking up several huge signatures from over the battle zone." The girl with hair shaped like fox ears notified me.

As overall commander of the JSDF, I had command of the entirety of the land forces and worked closely with the other commanders of the Air force, Naval Fleet and the nearby naval base belonging to the world police, America.

Less than a few hours ago, I had notified them of Academy City commiting treason.

Less than an hour ago, they had responded saying that they will be sending reinforcements from aircraft carriers and the said base.

Less than fifteen minutes ago... I was told that the base was completely obliterated.

Supersonic bombers from Academy City were now flying towards Washington D.C. and at the speed of almost seven thousand kilometers per second, these planes exceeded tenfold what Academy City claimed were their best technology.

In addition, a massive flying fortress that looked like a more militarized version of the Five Overs they loaned out to the world for Haifuri competitions was hovering above the destroyed base. Armored suits and even an Object had been deployed on the island.

I stared at a map of the country and the nearby islands.

A laser pointer hung above it, showing exactly where the enemy, which we had deemed Academy City as had deployed their troops and where our own troops were situated

Red dots represented the creatures which had been detected initially. Orange the mantis-like robots Ami Chono had encountered. Yellow the massive flying fortresses and maroon for the more minor units like powered suits and light infantry mechs.

Meanwhile, green represented our own tanks and blue for our planes. Apparently some antique collector called Ollerus or some other ridiculous name was atop one of the buildings and was firing... Ballista rounds at the mantis robots with surprisingly high kill rates.

The planes were trying to get in close but four had been plucked out of the sky by the flying fortresses like they were nothing.

Head of the Air Force, Smartvery Hirasawa, who is a mix of British and Japanese had been screaming various obscenities in english and japanese after her fighters, which had been flying at the respectable speed of Mach four, had been swatted away by the fortresses like flies.

In her Aircraft Carrier command centre the Coven Compass, she was currently under the protection of the Navy. Aircraft Carriers were... Easy pickings for enemy aircraft afterall.

Of course, this information was provided by Satellite and could not be totally trusted. If Academy City could build a space elevator like Endymion, why couldn't they hack into a satellite. As head of the JSDF, I was completely in the dark.

"Elza. How many tanks do we currently have in the field?" I asked the fox haired girl.

It was a useless question. I could count how many there were just by looking at the map but I had to say a thing or two.

I felt useless like this.

"We have fifteen on the field. The EPA member in the city has managed to eliminate all of the creatures and the other two had managed to intercept the creatures heading to the sea but..." She looked at me nervously.

I raised an eyebrow, waiting for her to continue. "But?"

She grimaced before continuing. "But of them had already reached the sea before the EPA got there and managed to get on a docked ship..." Her voice got softer and softer. "And it consumed everything on board and had collided into a nearby Destroyer, the Hibiki, and absorbed the entire ship."

Absorbed? "How is that possible? Isn't it only capable of absorbing organic matter?" I shouted and slammed my hand onto the desk, causing the display to flicker.

"Well, it absorbed enough people and did not multiply so it became big enough to..." She stopped and showed me a picture on the tablet she used for communication with the other branches. The other girls came from their respective seats and moved behind me, trying to get a look at the picture.

They gasped in horror.

The entire ship looked like a fleshy mass, slime oozing from the bridge and the creature itself containing itself inside the ship for protection. It was even managing to move the ship forward.

"Does the Naval commander know about this?" I questioned her.

"Yes."

"Then why hasn't she given the order to obliterate it?"

"Because all the other ships in the region were destroyed by the Five Over that was given to us by Academy City."

~~~~~~~~~Beetle~~~~~~~~~~

"This has become rather... Messy."

"No doubt." "Obviously." "Ollerus can't take those on."

The ones that replied me were obviously Aleister and Fraulein. But we had a guest, Brunhild Eiktobel.

She had come to see what happened when her husband and children disappeared, leaving little Hel, Fafnir and Jörmungund, their new triplets, alone at home with her.

The three kids were now playing with Sogiita Gunha, the Attack Crash the my yard.

That guy had a thing with kids.

"I am not really worried about the Shaggoths. That girl's sister can single handedly take on a hundred. But I'm not sure about the Five Overs." I said like a spectator in a monotonous voice. Though I was here at home with them, I was manually controlling each and every Dark Matter construct in the world.

I had an army of flies acting as my eyes and seven hundred thousand hornets at my disposal. They were to attack and destroy the Five Overs that blocked access to Academy City.

"But they will attack in five minutes. I guess we will have a good show eh?"

~~~~~~~~Haimura~~~~~~~~~

"I said I'm sorry right?" I pleaded with her again.

"No. I will not forgive you for that until you do something redeeming." She folded her arms and glared at me from the sofa.

Currently, it was close to dawn and I was pleading with Yuriko to forgive me for the misunderstanding that got her angry earlier. Even though I could tell that she was just playing hard to get, it was obvious the main reason for her current insecurity was her power that activated when she got angry.

Her glare was impeccable, able to penetrate composite armor. In my kneeling position in front of her, she looked more like a war goddess than the delicate flower that she was.

What did I just refer her to?

"Hey Yuriko. Just forgive him already. I made some food for you two. I'm gonna go sleep." Her mom called out... More like mumbled and stumbled into her room.

A blush spread quickly across Yuriko's cheeks and she threw a pillow at my face and got up. "Let's go eat before it gets cold... And Worst isn't back yet."

I was surprised at her reactions. She wasn't one to change modes on a whim. When she was angry, she was angry and would stay that way.

"Oi hurry up Haimura."

That was more like it... I'm a masochist aren't I?

"Your mom took..." I hesitated. Unsure of what to say.

"An hour to prepare this." Yuriko completed for me.

The food that her mom had made was soggy instant noodles and an uncooked egg on top.

"I'm sure she was just tired or something." Picking my words carefully, I didn't want to insult her mom lest Yuriko got angry and attacked me with her crutch. Which I barely escaped from with my life after the bathroom incident.

I'll get to that later.

The food is the more important thing.

"Nah. This is actually pretty good. And it's better than what I can make." Yuriko replied with a grimace. "It's usually Worst or dad that does the cooking. I can't cook anything other than onion omelette and... Well any dish that the main ingredient is not onions"

"So I take it that you like onions?"

"Yeah."

I asked her hesitantly. "Want me to cook something?"

She beat me to the punch by getting up and pouring the contents of her mother's cooking down the toilet bowl and gesturing for me to pass her my bowl.

Sighing, I smiled and shook my head. "I take that as a yes."

Now, I don't want you to bore you with my cooking. I'm still getting the ingredients from the fridge now by the way. So I am going to go though what happened when we left off last chapter.

(Cheering and Yuriko glaring)

Let's begin.

* * *

Yuriko screamed.

I frantically put on the clothes that had been prepared for me. It was probably her father's... I hope he didn't mind.

My old clothes had to be thrown away. The stench of the blood was disgusting. Even after soaking it in bleach, the stain and stench remained.

But now wasn't the time to complain.

An angry Yuriko is a dangerous one. Just like how people say that a caged bear is the most dangerous, a flustered Yuriko is equally so.

Just as I managed to put on the pants, Yuriko burst into the room, her face flushed red and her mom smirking with bored eyes behind her.

"W-w-was t-tha-th-that y-y-your..." She trailed off and looked at the ground. My face grew hotter than before and was probably glowing red.

"Heh. It's just a penis. You'll get to know it sooner or later anyway Yuriko. Leave the poor boy alone and let him get changed." Her mom said with an amused voice and nodded at me.

Nodding in thanks, I closed the door gently, hoping I would not anger Yuriko further.

This was probably going to set me back on my path to redemption...

Putting on the rest of the clothes, I took a deep breath and clenched my hand on the door handle.

With shaking hands, I slowly turned it and...

Was immediately hit in the face by a flying crutch.

* * *

"Foods done."

I pushed the food from the frying pan onto a plate.

"What did you cook?" Yuriko asked in a low voice, raising her neck like an ostrich in a bid to get a view of what I cooked.

"Simple stir fry tofu uh... Some veggies and... I think it was chicken or pork. I forgot what I threw in hehe." I mentally smacked myself on the head. Not paying attention to what ingredients being used was a fatal mistake.

That's what you get when you were thinking about a girl lying on top of you.

"It smells better than my mom's cooking anyway. Should be edible." She said in a positive tone.

I smiled and set it on the table. Getting a both of us a bowl of rice to go with the food.

And I awaited judgement. "How is it?" Hoping for the best, I looked down in fear of another one of her penetrating gazes.

"It's good!"

Ah... I'm screwed.

Wait. 'its good?'

I looked up at her and was greeted by a white girl wolfing down food like a snorlax.

"Well... That's good. I hope you like it."

I started to dig in as well and within minutes, we had finished all the ingredients and five bowls of rice between us.

"How did you learn how to cook?" Yuriko questioned me as she wiped her mouth with a tissue.

"Well, I used to live with my grandpa and he taught me how to cook. Touma also taught me how to make the most cost efficient meals by buying almost expired products and cooking them in a way that will taste good even if they are expired."

Touma lived with his gluttonous sister Index after all. That girl could eat an entire cow for lunch. And another one for breakfast. Cooking industrial style has become routine for him.

Sometimes, Tsuchimikado's sister Maika would go down and help him with cooking. As a maid in training, she was trained to make lavish meals with great flavor in contrast to Touma's industrial, economic cooking style. Together, they could make buffets on the fly.

And buffets were a requirement when the entirety of his family came for gatherings which I was often invited to.

"I guess I'll was the plates." I groaned and got up. Living alone has its benefits. All of these sort of chores are routine for me.

"Hey Haimura." Yuriko's soft voice came from the dinner table behind me.

"Hmm?"

"Sorry... About earlier..."

I stopped my washing and put the sponge back to its holder.

"Earlier?" I asked. Unsure about what she was referring to. A lot had happened after all.

"When I overreacted and blew up. I even got you in a dangerous position."

So that's what she was apologizing for. To be honest, I felt that it was my fault in the first place for not being clear. If I had phrased my statement well, nothing bad would have happened... I think.

After all, Yuriko had been through a lot. Judging from what she told me which was probably the truth, she had fallen off the stairs, become paralyzed, got healed by some super hero was given some strange that she never wanted and had been positive throughout.

That is a feat not many can say they could do. I dare say no one could do it.

But as much as I wanted to tell her all that, I kept silent and waited till she voiced her thoughts. I would tell her after she was done.

"I... I'm sorry!" Her voice cracked and tears started to flow from her eyes. "I know you had good intentions and all but I didn't keep calm a..a..and I almost got you killed by a power I don't even know how to use! I didn't even want it!"

She took a deep breath.

"And for saying you didn't mean it when you said that you would take care of me. It was a spur of the moment thing and I know you had tried to visit me as often as possible, especially after just now... If you didn't mean it you wouldn't have come after me wouldn't you?"

She gave me a small smile, sniffed and wiped her eyes.

Now it was my turn.

I washed my hands free of soap and sat opposite her, staring into her blood red eyes. From the day I mer her, the main thing that captivated me was her eyes. In the past, they were red but lacked the brightness that was present in most people. Now, they gleamed.

It was not an exaggeration I assure you. Ever since she had opened up towards me and the others, the light seemed to grow in her eyes. Most significantly, it was when she had met up with her sisters when she was with Touma, Fukiyose and I during the hectic Senshadou and Haifuri competition period.

"Yuriko. I'm sorry too for not being clear and doing as much as I could to be with you." She opened her mouth to interrupt but I silenced her by putting my index finger on her lips. Shaking my head, I continued, "and I told you before didn't I? I will never break a promise if it's avoidable right?"

She nodded. The overhead table light illuminating her face and making her look like an angel.

"So when I say I'll be with you forever, I mean it. Alright?"

Her eyes started to water again and I kissed her on the forehead before returning to clean up. Leaving both our faces tomato red and unable to talk.

Then a loud boom destroyed the atmosphere that we had built. Resonating in our ears, it literally shook the foundations of the home and making the lights flicker. And somehow... It seemed familiar.

"Have we heard that sound before? It sounds uncannily familiar..."

~~~~~Suzushina Misaka~~~~~~

"All right. Perfect hit. Good job Nee-san." I spoke into the radio. Within seconds, the communications officer conveyed my message to her and her back to me. "No problem imouto."

"Captain. The Navy asks us to follow them to the modified Sargasso that the world police calls a base. They were apparently destroyed by a Five Over and request our help." The radio communications officer conveyed to me.

I considered it. Of course, we were only students and we had no obligation to comply. But we were students with a Destroyer equipped with a high velocity railgun that could destroy military bases on a whim. If they saw us as a threat, they would have no qualms sinking us with one of their battleships or cruisers.

On the other hand, a Five Over was a machine capable to picking up ships and tossing them around with extremely powerful magnetic fields and comes equipped with an Object, an airfield for attack helicopters and supersonic bombers, a small army of soldiers in powered suits and smaller Five Overs.

I would rather choose to fight the Navy than that monster. At least my crew had a chance of surviving.

"Screw them." I said in an unusual burst of emotion. "We are going off with our team. Tell them we have no chance against that monster. So what if we have a railgun? They can pick up aircraft carriers. What can a single tungsten round do?"

I continued and my voice returned to its normal monotonous tone.

"All we agreed on was to take down a lost ship. We did not agree to take on Academy City."

"Okay. Wait a moment." The radio officer kept silent for a second. Probably trying to condense all of that into a short message.

So I waited.

After thirty or so seconds, the reply came. "They say that it's the only option we have. And if we refuse to comply, they will take over the ship."

Take over the Railgun? Hell no.

"Then tell them to go on their own. I'm sure they have a railgun of their own." I replied dismissively.

Immediately afterwards, a stream of white emerged from the ocean. Like tentacles of a kraken, they moved up towards the Five Over and wrapped it's arms around it. The Object that was deployed opened fire, releasing a torrent of superheated plasma that would melt a ship in seconds...

That did nothing.

Attack helicopters with six propellors circled around the twenty or so tentacles and released a hail of missiles. Supersonic bombers fired from coaxial machine guns and launched guided high power explosives...

Which also did nothing.

A voice that seemed to be broadcasted over the entire ocean screamed in an annoyed tone.

"Did you think I would create something that would be affected by conventional weaponry?! NOUKAN!"

By now, the tentacles had completely enveloped the Five Over and pulled it down into the ocean. White hornets and beetles swarmed over Academy City forces and annihilated them before disappearing into the ground.

"What just happened?" 19090 asked from behind me in a bewildered tone. It all happened so fast and... Dare I say it, magically. Nothing in the world could have stood up to those weapons.

And yet...

I murmered a reply as I was hailed from the team and the Navy asking if I knew what was happening. "To be honest... I have no idea as well."

Clutching my shaking head, I looked to the distant Academy City and the Endymion Orbital Elevator that towered over the rest of the world, a bright blue glowing monument to show how much more advanced the city was compared to the world.

"That city is going to fall by its own overconfidence."

~~~~~~~~Haimura~~~~~~~~~  
Just outside Yuriko's house...

"YURIKO! STOP!"

Shit... This was bad.

As I said before, an angry Yuriko is a dangerous one. Now, Yuriko was a worried one. And a worried one could become an angry one very easily.

"No Haimura. I'm going and that's all there is to it." She stopped moving and gave me a stern glare. "You heard that sound just now right? I'm sure you know what it was."

The sound she was referring to was the 'boom' from earlier. Yeah I know I'm good at describing. All the loud sounds are booms but that's what it was! Don't judge me!

Now, it's safe to say we both identified what it was - Mikoto's ship. The Railgun.

We had heard it once before when it was around forty kilometers away from shore. And it was loud. This time, it was probably around half that distance away from here which puts it along the coastline with water barely deep enough to hold a Destroyer.

Now that we were outside, one could see that almost all the houses had lights switched on. The shockwave had woken everyone up it seemed.

"If things have gotten bad enough for the army to call students for help, what kind of trouble do you think Worst is in!?" She shouted at me and stormed off.

"Ugh..." I ran back into her home and hastily scribbled down a letter to tell her mom that we had gone looking for her eldest daughter before running back to find her.

* * *

"You finally caught up."

After running for a good five minutes and not finding Yuriko anywhere, I considered the possibility that Yuriko had taken the train to where the reported attacks were - the countryside.

And atop the large flight of stairs that led to the station, Yuriko stood above it all. Glaring at me hatefully.

"And you're not even impaired."

I grinned at her while putting my hands on my knees, panting slightly.

Her eyes narrowed.

With a voice as cold as ice, like the one she used on me when we just met, she questioned my demeanor.

"Why are you smiling?"

"Because you waited for me." I continued to smile. I knew this was just a front she was putting up. When we first met, I thought that she her true character was cold, calculating and tsundere. Little did i expect that it was actually the positive one I had seen for the past few days.

That was the Yuriko she hid from everyone.

"Hmph." She turned on her heel and stalked into the station but not before gesturing to me to ask me to follow her with a jerk of her head.

* * *

What... The... Hell?

The entire countryside had become a literal warzone.

Despite the fact that the dark skies were disappearing and the sun was just barely beginning to rise, the warm atmosphere that was shown in the sky had nothing to do with the hell that was going on on the ground. In fact, it only cemented the fact that was war was going on.

Just a few hundred meters away from the train station, large rolling hills covered with rice paddies, cattle fields, pig farms, windmills, small houses with the occasional mansion-sized private home was littered with scraps of metal and balls of barely pulsulating balls of flesh alongside fires of all sizes ranging from burning houses and tanks to small ones caused by a spark hitting some grass.

On the JSDF's side, tanks that had been hit by some kind of high power weapon were burning with massive holes on one side... and a giant metal flower blooming from the other. Some had suffered even worse fates and had their entire turret blown off. I shuddered to think what happened to the crew. In addition, what were once state-of-the-art fighter jets and attack helicopters are now burning boxes of metal. Some had suffered worse fates and were barely recognizable. There were so many that I could barely count them.

And that was just on our side.

Academy City ground forces that had consisted of giant mechanical insects, humanoid robots and soldiers in powered suits were also strewn about. It seemed that only one or two of those giant mantis-like robots had been destroyed by conventional tank shells. They had clear holes and burns in their armor where either an AP round had penetrated or a HE one had exploded. Many more had giant arrows going through their... bodies and even more had been cut up at the joints or went through the horrible fate of being chewed up by some giant monster.

Whereas the smaller robots and powered suits were nothing more than bits and pieces. Whatever had attacked them had done wit amazing force that they completely disintergrated against the superior firepower. Not that I knew what dealt the damage.

In the distance, Academy City's massive walls were barely visible due to gigantic chunks of metal that were once flying fortresses lying destroyed and burning. Three remained in their regal positions floating above the City with the Endymion glowing its usual bright blue like in television shows and news reports. Around those three remaining mechanical titans were a swarm of white insects that enveloped them like clouds.

Now, JSDF Type 10s were rolling out on the field, crushing any and all the fleshy ball-like monsters that they could find till no visible moment could be detected before a soldier would pop out from the turret hatch and pour oil over the damn thing and set it on fire. Good riddance if you asked me.

Beside me, Yuriko gasped "Is that Worst?" she pointed towards a group of misfit tanks.

They were a single Type 10, a Panther, a pair of Panzer IIIs, a StuG III and a Panzer II. And the most significant thing about that group of tanks was that the Type 10 had a sticker on it with the words 'Screw the Army. We are the Gods'.

It was Worst all right. Along with our school's Senshadou team.

"Yeah. Definitely her. The school team is with her too."

Yuriko sighed in relief now that she knew that her sister was safe.

"All right. It seems like everything is all right now. Wanna turn back home?" I asked her, hoping she'd say yes. This was a dangerous area and we were wearing home clothes. We didn't even have a kevlar vest let alone a 300mm wall of metal to protect us from the surroundings like the others did.

"Nah. I'll wait for Worst to finish up then hitch hike the way back." She smiled softly. Her positive attitude was returning... GREAT!

And once again, we were interrupted by an explosion.

Damn. All the interruptions are explosions ain't it.

~~~~~~~~Kihara Noukan~~~~~~~~~

Hydraulic doors hissed open.

"YUUITSU! EXPLAIN THIS!" I shouted a command to my only trusted assistant. Yuuitsu had been with me in the old world and once again, even in this new world, I was oddly attracted to her. Not in a romantic way but because of a sense of trust that I had in her.

She rotated on her office chair and looked at me with panicked eyes. "We have to leave the Five Over NOW!"

Currently, we were aboard a Fiver-Over_Model_Case_Attack_Crash. A Five Over that I had designed with the old world's number seven ranked Level Five in Academy City. He was a gemstone whose powers we did not understand and was of Level Five standard even without knowing the full extent of his own power.

This Five Over did not have any shape like the other Five Overs in the old world and this new world did.

In the old world, many of the Five Overs had insect-like designs. The Railgun type was in the shape of a praying mantis, an efficient shape that I retained in this new world. The Meltdowner one had been under developed but it too looked like an insect... actually an arachnid - the spider. Some others were in the shape of parasitic wasps and others as the octopus. But the main idea was the same: Their shapes came from animals and insects.

This Five Over however, destroyed that trend by shaping itself to be a UFO. I had chosen this design because it represented the odd, unexplainable power of the Seventh and yet looked imposing.

It was meant to be a mobile base that could serve civilian and military needs. Holding itself up by super power level electromagnets that used the Earth's magnetic field to keep itself afloat as well as another set of those same batteries to serve as a means of picking up any object with a magnetic property. Being so large also meant that it was unconcealable, leading me to add an airbase on top of it to allow supersonic bombers, attack helicopters and smaller Five Overs to be stationed on it and protect it. The immense size of it also allowed it to carry Objects. The most powerful land weapon that exceeded even Five Overs. Able to withstand a nuclear warhead and come out unscathed was something unbeatable in this world. These Objects would also be accompanied by mechanical soldiers called Radio Noise Mechanized Infantry and conventional soldiers in powered suits. Obviously, they were unbeatable to conventional armies.

Despite all this. Seven of my ten Five Overs were destroyed.

"Well... It seems like the original Dark Matter has been working with the locals." She turned and picked up her tablet before turning back to me. "And the Dark Matter has been made with properties that are impervious to any form of weaponry except one."

I had an idea where this was going.

"And that one is? I prompted her.

"Its the Sample Shaggoth."

I knew it. All we had to do was to get one of those to assimilate one of the thousands of Dark Matter creatures flying around my Five Overs.

"Okay Yuuitsu. We leave to go to FVAC1. There is one last Shaggoth contained there right?"

She nodded furiously.

"Well then. Call the Attachment up to FVAC1 as well. We will destroy him there."

I turned to leave the room as a vibration ran through this Five Over. The Dark Matter insects are probably destroying the batteries that support the elctromagnets that hold this machine in the air.

Muttering under my breath as I bolted past several of the pure white monsters biting and tearing at the sheet walls while some Radio Noise infantry fired at them with no obvious effect. We are going to upgrade those machine gun rounds soon.

'Well' I thought to myself. 'FVAC1 has three Objects and fifteen bombers. A partial set of the AAA is there as well and another full set is flying in. I might as well destroy that Dark Matter kid as well as that pesky Number One while I'm at it.' A mechanical hand reached towards my mouth and place a cigar snugly on my maw. 'I'll show that Aleistier that I can make shit happen as well.'

~~~~~~~~Yuriko~~~~~~~~

A swarm of white bugs are flying around and attacking those... UFOs floating Academy City. That boy is probably doing something crazy again.

"Do you think Worst will come? Her tank is reversing now..." I asked the boy standing beside me.

"I have no idea... But she should be coming soon. She's not part of the army afterall..." Haimura trailed off as a few hundred boxes flying at amazing speeds out from the City cut through the swarm of white bugs.

Two of the remaining three flying fortresses started to fall. Hehe that boy was really doing his job as a guardian of the world.

Then it all went to shit.

My ears suddenly went blank and what seemed like static was the only thing I could hear. In that same instant, a thick orange line cut out through the swarm of Dark Matter and sped towards the night sky. In that single attack, dozens of insects broke into pieces and fell from the immense power of that weapon.

I looked at where Haimura was earlier but couldn't find him... everything looked... grey. And blurry.

"Y... Ko... Oi..." A voice was calling for me but it was muffled. As if someone was trying to talk to me underwater. I felt some slight tapping on my face and tried to move my hand to its source but couldn't really find it. Some black thing was also looking at my face but it was unrecognizable.

Eventually, my hearing returned and I could distinctly feel myself getting shaken by someone."Oi! Yuriko! Are you okay?!" My vision suddenly became sharper. Haimura's face was inches away from mine and he was trying frantically to get me out of my daze.

"Huh? Oh... yeah! I'm up!"

His face showed relief and nothing else.

"Whew good thing." He grabbed my hand and pulled me up, supporting me on his body while holding my crutch. "Can you stand? We gotta get out of here now."

Huh? Wasn't everything fine already?

I looked at where the final Five Over was floating and to my surprise, it was unscathed.

"What happened?" I asked him. All the Dark Matter insects had disappeared and the remaining tanks were fighting frantically with some invisible threat. Further back, three giant spherical machines known as Objects dropped from the Five Over as planes and helicopters streamed out of its surface.

"Apparently, Academy City had a secret weapon."

* * *

A.N. WEEEEE THIS WAS TIRING! I had to plan out a lot for this one and tried my best to check my pacing. Sorry this is a few days late because I was busy with a performance, and had to get my students ready for a performance of their own. All while juggling a piano exam and the normal school exams that are coming. hehe...

Thanks for reading and as usual I hope you like this chapter. Please give me your thoughts =)

Guest: Thanks for reviewing and now that I read through my previous chapter... OMG I MADE HER A BIT TOO DEREDERE! I wanted to make Yuriko deredere but only to Haimura but generally positive with a little snark when she is with others. But whats done is done so... CARRY ON! Dont worry though! she will be back to her usual self the next next chapter hehe. back to peaceful life i guess XD

For the first time since a long time ago, the end of this arc is near! And its confirmed! XD

ONCE AGAIN, THANKS FOR READING I LOVE U GUYS 1.2k VIEWS!

spoiler. im sorry Worst fans.


	17. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

Dark Matter.  
In a cabin in a certain forest.

"What... The hell... Was that?!" I shouted at nothing in particular. Brunhild jolted backwards from my sudden reaction while Aleister and Fraulein remained calm. Fraulein was used to this while nothing could really make Aleister jump.

With a dismissive voice and a flick of his hand, Aleister left his vantage point from behind me and returned to his nap.

"That's the Anti-Art Attachment. I warned you about it remember?"

"I made every single one of my units impervious to modern weaponry!" I said incredulously. "Heck! They should be able to take on a nuclear attack head on without a problem!"

"What properties did you make them with?" Aleister shot back calmly.

"Their shell hardness is wurtzite boron nitride level and stronger than reinforced titanium. Melting point... Or the points where they will lose functionality is at two thousand degrees and negative seven hundred degrees." I had to admit I was rather proud of my creations. They were tougher than even water bears.

"Not enough to withstand a direct hit from the AAA." Aleister boasted with a smirk. "That this does not just use science after all. It also uses some magic."

What the hell was that? Magic?

"Magic as in gemstone abilities?" Fraulein asked before I could.

"No. Magic as in magic. An unexplainable force that bends the laws of this world to obey. It is what allows the talentless," he pointed to himself, "to compete with the talented." He pointed at me. "The magic of the AAA allows the user to dictate how powerful each round is. And control each and every one of its seven thousand different kind of weapons that it contains independently. Which is what Ollerus uses as well."

~~~~~~~~~Yuriko~~~~~~~~~~

What is... This shouldn't be happening. Everything was going so well and now this?!

A pair of bombers shot past above us.

The sound of guns firing and the rounds fired by the guns hitting the ground came a few seconds later showing how much faster they were compared to the speed of sound.

"GET DOWN!" Haimura grabbed me and pulled me behind a destroyed tank, the fire dangerously close to us.

Several bullets pinged off the armor while others buried themselves in the ground, in walls or in rocks, leaving then either shattered or cracked.

Then a JSDF tank rolled past us on reverse at top speed.

It fired it's main gun once before getting hit by a blue laser of sort that completely melted the armor and turned it into something resembling melted cheese. The grass under the tank caught alight and turned to ash in seconds.

The heat was undescribable.

Even though we were more than fifteen meters away, it felt like we were being thrown onto a barbeque pit. For a second, my life flashed before my eyes. Never in my life had I felt so afraid for my life.

After a second of enduring the scorching... It was worse than scorching. And burning doesn't cut it... Ah screw it. After a second of enduring the heat, some white substance rose from the ground and surrounded us, forming an igloo.

I immediately recognized it.

Dark Matter.

The igloo was around three meters in diameter and had no entrance or exit. It was air conditioned too.

"Hey there... Sorry I'm late." A boy that was completely and entirely white rose from the ground, bearing a sheepish smile and holding a clenched fist to his tilted head.

Haimura grabbed my arm and moved me behind him.

"Who are you?" He asked in a frightened voice. I couldn't blame him. If I was in his shoes, I would be frightened as well. In fact, I would probably be too traumatized to speak.

"Haimura, it's fine. He's a friend." I assured him as the white boy smiled and collapsed the igloo, revealing that the ground beneath us was the only thing that was green. All the grass that was not protected by the igloo had become nothing but ash.

The heat was surprisingly bearable. I would have expected it to last longer.

"I had some of my moths cool the area down." The boy read my mind and grinned.

"So who is this Yuriko?" Haimura asked me. Still on edge and suspicious about the white boy.

Grinning knowingly at the boy, who returned it graciously, I responded with a 'i-told-you-so' look. "It's the guy I told you about. Dark Matter."

The boy smiled in returned and tapped our heads. He was taller than us by a good thirty centimeters or so. Bloody cheater could make himself as tall as he wanted.

"Hehe. Hello Haimura. You have no idea how much Yuriko thinks about you when you are not around." He teased, making us go red. "Anyways. I need to deal with a certain someone so I won't be able to spend time with you. Ciao!" The boy returned to the ground and a massive white beetle formed up in the distance, reaching towards the final Five Over.

"He seems nice."

Haimura nudged my arm and gave an approving look.

I sighed in relief. At least things would start to get better now that he is here.

Well... They didn't.

One of the three spherical Objects in the distance turned towards us. Once again, it was equipped with Gatling guns...

Was everything that was out to kill me equipped with those damn things?!

"Oh... Shit... Come on Yuriko!" Our eyes widened in realisation of what was about to happen.

Haimura grabbed my wrist and pulled, forcing me into a run. I tripped and struggled, my stupid legs refusing to move properly.

He turned to me with eyes narrowed but with the frantic light of a deer caught in a car's headlights.

A thought rushed through my mind... Was he about to abandon me? Even after that... Kiss he gave me earlier?

Then his actions gave me my answer even before I could formulate a proper question.

"I'm sorry Yuriko..."

Yeap he was about to abandon me. A slight rage ran through my mind but a part of it understood why he would do that.

When he saved me earlier, he had a guarantor. He had Worst to cover his ass to shoot the damn alien. But now... This was almost certain death. If something had weapons that could be seen even kilometers away... That thing had more than a high chance of killing you.

"You may not like this but..."

The sound of tanks crushing fences, rocks and debris came from behind me. They had also noticed and were also running for cover. I pray that Worst is okay.

"I have no choice..."

Earthquakes and tremors ran through the ground, most likely the rounds fired from the fifty meter long Object in the distance.

"But to do this..."

Ah.

I stared right into his eyes. Opposing my thoughts, his eyes did not hold pity or guilt but determination. His arms wrapped around me and picked me up, making me drop my cane. One hand under my knees and another below my back.

This... Is...

"What are you doing?!" I shouted in panic and confusion. Wasn't he going to abandon me?

"I'm keeping true to my promise." He looked down at my face for a split second and smiled before looking forward again.

"I said I would take care of you didn't I?"

~~~~~~~~~Worst~~~~~~~~~~

Ah... We are screwed.

"Captain... Three enemy objects deplyed!" Rumi shouted to me.

We were still reeling from the noise from earlier. Intel had no idea what the thing was and all we knew was that it came from the Five Over.

Probably some secret weapon of you ask me.

Poking my head out of the turret, I took a good three hundred and sixty degree look around. There were almost no JSDF tanks hanging around and the Senshadou team and the quickly approaching other two EPA tanks were staying with me.

"Tell the rest to retreat. We have no chance against and Object..." I gave a command and trailed off. One of the Objects, a white one with seven giant guns that looked like arms and fired a plasma bolt. It sailed through the air and came crashing down on a retreating JSDF tank, completely melting it.

A white igloo made of the same material that made up those mysterious insects that destroyed the enemy appeared.

"Hey!" I shouted down into the hatch. Give the command to retreat."

"Hai!" My crew responded immediately.

Looking up at the igloo, moths appeared and spread their wings, letting out some kind of powder from their wings.

I picked up the Electron EV goggle that Misaka gave me the other day. This was a newer version of her NV goggles that allowed for synchronization among a team. This EV version is for solo use and could function as an aiming reticule for affiliates weapons as well as display thermal imaging, night vision and had movement sensors.

I switched on the thermal view kn the goggles to find out what exactly the moths were doing.

To my surprise, what the area should have been was white hot but was a cool green. Those moths were cooling the environment?

Amazing.

The igloo soon disappeared and became a white boy that was talking to a girl with white hair and a boy. For some reason they were really familiar...

My sister?! And that boyfriend of hers?!

Why are they here?

I looked back at the Objects in panic. Two of them were turning towards a giant white beetle that appeared next to them but a black one of two massive Gatling guns turned towards our general direction.

I used my goggles to zoom in on the distant Objects. They were preparing to fire alright.

Now I had three choices.

Run with the others, tell my crew to drive the tank to cover Yuriko, or go save her myself.

You know which I would pick.

"Fuck!" I tore off my goggles and hung it on Azumi's neck. "

Screw it! You three get out!" I grabbed Megumi who was nearest to me and shoved her out of the tank through the turret hatch.

"Commander?!" The other two voiced complaints but were quickly kicked out of the tank as well. I am unbeatable when it comes to physical strength... Except for maybe one guy I know.

I shouted into the radio. "All tanks evacuate now. Panther. Cover three hitch hikers here."

The tanks outside moved appropriately. The EPA tanks, a modified and vastly upgraded Tiger 1 and a Centurion, moved quickly behind cover and the Senshadou team used the faster light panzers to literally push the slower StuG and Panther.

I plopped down into the drivers seat and felt around the controls. From the external cameras, I could see that my crew had given up pounding their fists on the tank and were now running towards the underground station with the Panther covering their asses.

Good.

"It's been a long time..." I mumbled to myself. Thinking back, the last time I actually drove a tank in a combat situation was more than three years ago when I was still in school. As I touched the controls, my muscle memory took over and I moved completely by instinct. Good thing I practiced to hard eh?

The rising sun was behind me and I could distinctly see the Object in the distance preparing it's main weapons.

I set the tank to move as quickly as it could towards Yuriko.

Fifty meters...

The Object started firing.

Thirty...

The bullets tore up an entire house and hit a JSDF tank that was hanging around, turning it into swiss cheese.

Twenty meters...

Vibrations could be felt throughout the entire tank as the rounds tore into the ground behind my tank. Glancing at the cameras behind me, the other tanks had managed to avoid the rounds by getting out of its line of fire.

At least they will live.

I looked out of the periscope and saw Haimura stop pulling Yuriko and instead grabbed her waist and picked her up bridal style.

I have to admit. That guy is smart. Not very but still smart. Most people would just leave the girl and run off in fear or just continue pulling her along.

Plus, carrying the girl is a good way of getting a few easy points hehe.

Why am I thinking about such things now?

A super powerful round scratched the back of my turret. An entire section was torn off in that second and the screech of metal pierced my ears rather painfully. A cool gust of wind came through the gaping hole and dirt thrown up into the air from other shots flew into the back of my shirt.

Ten meters.

Haimura seems to have noticed me. Hehe anyone would after getting saved from a hentai monster.

Another shit hit the front of my tank. Surprisingly, that one bounced. I thought that it would be fast enough to completely ignore angled armor but thankfully, I was wrong.

I stopped my tank right infront of Haimura and Yuriko. The hail of rounds caught up from behind me and started to hammer the tank.

Round after round punched right through the hull and came out the other side. Each starting with a sickening clank on the outer armor and then a vacuum cleaner followed by the tearing and rupturing of metal on the other side. I guess I'm not a really good shield after all.

Then time seemed to stop around me.

A spark that had come from the tank armor beside me floated in the air, unmoving and pulsating. Even the armor itself was bent inwards, the whitish glow from the invading round pulsing dimly.

I had done all I could to try and protect her. But it probably wasn't enough... At least I can say I tried right?

Those were some of the last things that ran through my mind.

Well, Yuriko... Good bye.

Then everything turned black. Or a very deep shade of red.

~~~~~~~~~Haimura~~~~~~~~

The rounds were coming closer!

"Haimura..." Yuriko whispered and looked behind me with frantic eyes.

That probably meant that the gun had finally turned in my direction.

I threw myself on the ground and Yuriko under me, pinning her down below my body and using my own as a shield... That wouldn't do anything to be honest.

Then a tank came rumbling in front of us at top speed. Several rounds pinged off its armor but the vast majority penetrated and came out the other side, albiet at a much lower velocity.

The tank was a Japanese Type 10. It was black with an EPA symbol as wells as red paint-like blood that coated it's treads.

Only one tank matched that description in the city. Heck I dare say in the world.

"What?! WORST!"

Yuriko screamed at the tank that came to a stop, acting as a makeshift shield for us.

Several shots came from behind us and flew past the Type 10, probably the other tanks noticing and trying to make a difference.

Yuriko tried to force herself to get up and crawl to the tank but I held her down.

"No!" I shouted at her face. "She's doing this for you so don't get up and kill yourself! You think she'd be happy if you died because you got up even after she acted as a barrier for you?!"

Realisation spread across Yuriko's face and tears started to flow from her eyes.

A single round came from the tank and flew in a distorted arc over my head.

That round came from the driver's area.

The tank armor had distorted the tragectory of the bullet and caused it to fly slightly upwards instead of landing on me.

Worst had achieved what she came for.

She had saved us.

The hail of bullets eventually turned and destroyed the area to my left, leaving the area that it passed looking like it had been carpet bombed.

Distant shockwaves came from the seaside and the City ahead but nothing as loud as before.

I forced my legs that had seemingly become like jelly and ran over to the husk of a tank that lay in front of me, looking for survivors.

Surprisingly, the tank hadn't exploded but that was mostly because most of the rounds had already been used.

Only two undamaged rounds lay in the ammunition rack.

I crawled into the gaping hole in its armor and was confronted with the stench of iron, confirming my fears.

"H-h-hey... K-i... Kid" a soft whisper came from the drivers seat. I could see a bloody hand hanging from the seat despite me being behind it, testament to how much punishment the tank had taken. Almost no armor was left.

Shifting away several metal plates, a gory sight presented itself before me. It seemed that a round had gone through the area and nicked Worst in the leg.

Well, nicked is not a strong word but when you consider the bullet travelling at several times the speed of sound, a nick could do much more damage that anything you had seen.

As she sat in the seat, the entire cockpit was covered with blood. One leg was severed and the other barely hanging on. Just by the amount of blood and not to mention the pieces of metal stuck in her flesh, it was more than just a guarantee that she was going to die.

Her pale face still seemed to make her look superior to everyone I knew. It was the aura of confidence that she always put off even when her body was bleeding profusely.

"Y-you... L-l... *Cough*... lived..."

She forced a pained smile.

"Yeah. I live. So does Yuriko." I smiled and cleaned off some of the blood on her face.

She no longer had any strength to talk but she still managed to covey her thoughts with her eyes.

'Take care of her will ya?' An imaginary voice came through my ears.

"Yeah. I will."

The voice came again.

'Good.'

And then the light in Worst's eyes faded away.

Closing her eyes for her, I crawled out of the tank and was greeted by six girls... actually five girls and a woman. One of whom was Yuriko.

The other five wore the same uniform as Worst but each of them had a name tag that Worst lacked.

Three of them had a cloth patch on their breast pocket with the sign of a bullet, a steering wheel and a radio respectively. Their name tags said Megumi, Azumi and Rumi. Probably Worst's crew.

The other two had a binoculars on the patch and their name tags identified them as M.N. and C.S. respectively.

They were probably here for Worst. The three other crew members looked to me with hopeful eyes but I shook my head. With a respectful nod, the three ran over to the tank and crawled in. They probably had a very close connection to Worst.

The older woman nodded to me and silently returned to her tank. While the younger one stayed and stared me in the eye.

We stood there for a few good seconds before Yuriko came up to me and punched me in the gut.

"OI! WHAT THE HELL?!"

"You deserve it for leaving me there like that..." She whispered. "She's dead isn't she?"

"Yeah."

Yuriko collapsed on the ground and wet the ground with tears. Mumbling something about a beetle, she looked up to me with red eyes.

But before she could say anything, an incredible shockwave came from behind us.

From Academy City.

In contrast to the rosy glow of sunrise, battleships and destroyers lobbed their massive shells at the Object that had done so much damage earlier.

One of the Objects was torn open and partially melted while a white one in the middle hovered slightly above it and fired it's seven cannons at its own flying base.

At the Five Over it was supposed to be protecting

~~~~Quenser Barbotage~~~~~~

"Hey."

"Yeah?"

"Do you ever wonder why we are doing this?"

"Yeah."

"I mean... Yeah we follow orders from the army but this is a whole nother level."

Fighting against one's own army is a little off I conceded.

"Yeah."

Hevia, the guy talking to me, asked me yet again. "But why do I feel that we are doing the right thing?"

"Because we are."

I tapped the walkie talkie on my shoulder, calling the massive fifty meter long Object beside me.

The Baby Magnum.

"Hey Princess. How's things going?"

"Everything is fine. The Rush is going to be disable in three... two... one..."

The seven massive cannons that stretched from the Objects back released a torrent of blue superheated plasma that melted most, if not all the weapons on our friendly Object.

"OI! WHAT'S THIS FRIENDLY FIRE?!" My walkie talkie screamed as the pilot of the Rush shouted at me through the radio.

"Oh ho ho... I'm sorry but we are trying to do the right thing. After we saw that tank cover those innocent civilians, we couldn't just do nothing."

"And risk getting executed for it?"

Hevia came over and spoke into the walkie in my stead.

Each Object was accompanied by a repair team, which was a mobile command centre and repair depot which was usually the Five Over they were assigned to.

Our Baby Magnum shared the Five Over we were assigned to with the other two Objects, the Rush and the Indigo Plasma.

In addition to the maintenance and repair team, each Object was assigned an accompanying tank division and a pair infantry companies.

"Yeah. The right thing always comes first. We didn't kill you but I'm not sure about the White Rhinoceros Beetle over there. Better be careful."

The White Beetle in question was now battling it out with our boss. Which was sitting in the strongest Five Over and the other the embodiment of a beetle made of some kind of invincible material.

In the beginning, we had joined in the attack but soon realised it was futile as even an Object's main guns couldn't even scratch it.

And when we saw that heroic EPA tank... It kinda woke a little more than something in the entire company. Even the Princess in the Baby Magnum had audibly gasped.

That was when we decided to turn against our own allies. And in turn become allies of the Beetle. By damaging the weapons of our allied Objects, we decreased their destruction potential to next to nothing and yet got away without killing anyone.

Win-win.

Sea-to-land rounds came from the sea and started bombarding the Five Over as well.

Plus, our army was about to fall. Wouldn't it be good to side with the winners? Especially if they are the ones doing the right thing.

"I can see what you mean..." Oh ho ho's voice came through the walkie. "Even I felt bad but I couldn't end the strafe."

"You could have but you were afraid of the Kihara." I shot back.

Then the AAA appeared from the top of the Five Over...

"I'm far more afraid of that thing."

Even Hevia cowered behind my back.

"This time, I have to agree with Oh ho ho. I'm far more afraid of what the Kiharas would do to us if Academy City wins." Hevia muttered while using his rifle scope to look at the AAA.

Things are about to get ugly.

~~~~~~~~Dark Matter~~~~~~~

"Easy win." Aleister's voice came to my mind despite him not being here.

"Not too sure though. They may have something hidden." I replied... Well not me replying but another me that was at home talking to him and watching me.

"Aargghhhh! Fraulein! Don't pull on my ear! We are made of the same Matter! Other things my not affect me but you do!"

She grinned sheepishly and returned to eating her biscuits.

I swear. She's been spending so much time with that Fremea that she's picked up more than a few childish habits.

"Back on track. Dark Matter. If you can take out the Dog itself, the AAA is nothing. Even if you don't kill him, damaging the harness will deactivate the entire Attachment." Aleister's voice came again and tapped my other body on the head. I used that body to swat him away and returned my attention to Noukan.

I was currently using the Rhinoceros Beetle as my weapon. It's smooth shell was the best for repelling bullets and the rounds that I could fire from my horn was more than enough to take down the Five Over... But for some reason, I couldn't take it down.

Despite there being a clear difference in strength between mine and Noukan's weapons. (Mine were supposed stronger in every way.) Not a single one if my weapons could touch that damn dog. Sometimes, he would use containers as shields and at others, the weapons themselves would intercept or push my rounds away.

Because many of my weapons were usually launched by organic means like air pressure or even muscles because I am hopeless at creating mechanically based creatures and make my creatures based on insects and animals, my attacks are more often than not weaker than his despite each individual round and weapon being of higher quality allowing his attacks to redirect mine slightly off course. Which is really annoying.

I knew that a certain friend of mine was setting up a weapon that used a similar method to Aleister's unexplainable power that this annoying dog was also using but I didn't want to completely rely on him. Afterall, if I could take out this dog, I could say that the natural phenomenon known as gemstones are still more powerful than artificial powers.

The Attachment arranged itself in the shape of a pair of magnets. At almost a hundred meters long, this levitating railgun fired drills that could destroy meteors. It was what destroyed an army of my attack hornets.

I prepared my shell and set its properties to more effectively bounce the projectile instead of take it head on. No matter how powerful it was or whether it used magic or not, normal attacks cannot defeat me that easily.

But what came out was not the giant drill I was expecting. Nor was it an explosive or armor penetrating round.

It was a ball of distorted Dark Matter, the Sample Shaggoth.

Ah... So that's the catch.

Even though it was moving rather slowly, I could not attack or defend against it since it is made of the same material as me.

"Oi! Deactivate now!"

"Dissipate!"

"Dodge."

"Get Ollerus to shoot now!"

Four different replies or should I say... commands, came to my mind from my other body.

But it came down to just two options.

One. Take it head on and allow Ollerus to fire that special arrow of his.

Two. Dodge it and make it harder for Ollerus to take the shot.

If I chose option one, my body would be corrupted and I may lose control of it, allowing this Beetle form to become a rival gemstone but Ollerus would eliminate the more pressing threat.

If I chose option two, it would be next to impossible to take another stand like this if he had more Samples to use against me and Ollerus's arrow would not work since Noukan will notice and shoot it down.

I set my body into a defensive stance. There is barely enough time for me to escape but... Screw it. If Ollerus could take out that damn dog now. It would be more than worth it.

~~~~~~~~Aleistier~~~~~~~~~~

That kid is going to take it head on.

I muttered a spell under my breath so that he wouldn't notice.

It was a spell to contact Ollerus.

"Hey. Ullr. Change of plans. Shoot the Beetle."

His calm voice came in.

"You called just in time. I had just finished drawing the circle... But are you sure? My spell has a long prep time. If I shoot it at him, the dog will have free reign for a while."

In the background, I could hear two girls arguing with a boy about the root of the spell Ollerus was using. They were close but not close enough.

"Yeah. Someone I know will do it. She's at tipping point already and I'm dying to see those wings."

I forced down the urge to smile. It has been so long since I've seen those wings be they white or black. Those wings had fought against the entire world once and can most likely do it again.

"Sure. Okay. FIRING."

Ollerus fired the arrow.

From here, it was inaudible but as a magic user, I could feel the shockwaves of power emitted from the spell.

I whispered under my breath again.

"Hliðskjálf."

Othinus and Marian are correct.

The power Ollerus was using was Hliðskjálf. An unexplainable attack. And since it is unexplainable, it is unblockable and unavoidable.

More importantly, when he was using a certain spear reinforced by Hliðskjálf that allowed his arrow or more specifically, spear that was used as an arrow to gain extraordinary destructive capabilities.

~~~~~~~3rd Person~~~~~~~~~

In the oceans, Japanese Navy, Tokiwadai and Nagatenjouki ships lob sea-to-land rounds at Kihara Noukan's Five Over while taking laser, missile and coilgun attacks.

On land, the only remaining Object with attack capabilities opens fire at its own base. While shrugging off hits to its spherical body like they were nothing.

Further back, Worst's tank is towed away by a Certain Highschool and Ollerus fires his arrow at Dark Matter, completely obliterating the area as if a black hole had come and sucked in everything.

And on the fields along the Tokyo country side...

A certain girl hit breaking point.

In her eyes, her sister had just died. Her two other sisters were taking fire and were risking their lives.

"Reina..." She rubbed off the tears on her eyes and forced herself to stand. A shockwave spread across the field, far larger than even the AAA's massive railgun.

"Dark... Matter..." Large, eighty meter long wings spread from her back. One like a white angel's wing and the other, a black wing with static-like patterns.

"Fucking... Shits. They think they are oh so high and mighty." She saw red. Even when everything nearby, be they friend or foe, was mercilessly blown away, her head was so blank that she essentially forgot everything and was consumed by anger.

"I'll show them this fucking power. If I got it, who says I CAN'T FUCKING USE IT?!"

~~~~~~~~~Aleistier~~~~~~~~~

Heh... This is getting interesting.

"OI! ALEISTER! WHY DID YOU TELL OLLERUS TO SHOOT ME?!" Dark Matter screamed in my ear.

"Well, you would lose either way. Mind as well let Accelerator take care of it. She had both plot armor and an invincible ability."

He sweatdropped and attempted to slap me but was interrupted by Fraulein pulling him by the ear to the bed room for... Unknown reasons. Most likely a scolding though.

"Anyway, doesn't that put my family in danger?" Brunhild Eiktobel called out from her cozy corner on the other side of the room.

"Nah." I waved my hand. "I owe him one anyway. If anything bad was about to happen I would intervene."

"Plus, he took out that irritating Othinus for me back in that world" he added under his breath.

"Ah... Good to know. Anyways, I just got a call. Mugino, Fremea and Sogiita are coming in a few minutes. The kids got lost in the forest and were found by Mugino who was practicing her Meltdowner."

"Ah! Group dinner. Never in my life have I felt more thankful that I chose to team up with you guys."

~~~~~~~~Haimura~~~~~~~~~

"YURIKO!" I shouted as loudly as I could to get her attention.

That was the last thing I distinctly remember doing before being blown away by her.

My vision swirled and I lost my sense of time and direction. After what could have ranged from seconds to minutes, I finally came to a stop after tumbling down a nearby hill and stopping on the no longer burning husk of a tank.

I stayed there lying in the sky for a while. Pain from the impact numbing my senses and immobilizing me.

Eventually, my senses returned and I tried to get myself into a crawling position and forced my head to look at where Yuriko should be.

And... Before I could turn my head towards where I think I was before being thrown away, I noticed an angel with one white wing and one black one floating in the air, as weapons of all shapes and sizes ranging from swords to bullets to superheated plasma were Reflected back to its origin.

Nothing could touch her.

But despite her almost omnipotent representation, she seemed to be rather haunting to me. As if a good power was being used in a evil way.

A pair of arms suddenly touched my shoulders.

"What the!" I jolted up and turned onto my back like a rat that was surprised jumping up and scurrying away... Or to put it in more accurate terms, hauled ass.

The girl from earlier stared me down with cool yet warm eyes.

Her brown hair was well kept and her composure revealed no uncertainty and even when looking at dirty, injured and weak old me, she showed no sign of judgement.

Her uniform seemed to be different as well. Consisting of a black Kevlar vest, black overalls underneath, along with grey cargo pants that did not match her top at all.

She put out her left hand. "Maho Nishizumi. Elite Panzer Arm." She introduced herself.

I took her hand and she gave a Curt shake before pulling me up and helping me get on her tank.

"Where are we going now?" I asked her as she left me sitting on the flat turret of her Tiger 1.

She plopped into the turret but kept her upper body outside the hatch. "We are going to save your girlfriend. What else?"

"Ah... Eh?! Isn't that suicide?!" I questioned/shouted/screamed at her. Yes. The thought of saving Yuriko was on my mind but isn't this a bit too reckless?

Now that the Beetle had been sucked into oblivion, the massive array of floating weapons were free to shoot... But they were slowly getting wiped out by their own ammunition as Yuriko sent them flying back.

"In this kind of situation, the most normal thing to happen would be for her to collapse after dealing with the enemy and as the protagonist, it is your duty to save het as she falls to the sky in exhaustion." The girl, Maho said dismissively.

She had a point.

But why do I feel like someone's puppet now.

The Anti-Art Attachment had arranged itself into its most powerful weapon yet again.

The fortress destroying Railgun.

On the other hand, Yuriko's form was getting even more and more distorted. Her white wing slowly turning black and her eyes glowing red.

"She's getting worse." I mumbled under my breath.

"Anyway. Kid, that's some girl you have there. High maintenance." Maho didn't hear me and said something totally different from what I was thinking, throwing off my train of thought.

"Uuuuuuuuuu... HOW. I SUPPOSED TO ANSWER THAT?! I AM TRYING TO THINK OF A WAY TO GET HER BACK TO NORMAL!" I shouted at her. I guess I'm on edge too. Normally, my composure wouldn't even change.

She took my reaction in stride and ignored me. "She's gonna beat him now. And I'm sure she will be fine."

I turned back and noticed Yuriko was charging straight at the final Five Over.

"Earplugs." Maho put something on my hand.

A pair of black earplugs.

"Don't worry. They were given to me by a friend who has ten-ten hearing despite being a gunner. Its really effective."

I fiddled with them in my hands. Within three seconds, I noticed they were made in Academy City.

Why are we fighting them again? Their products are truly top-of-the-line. Why fight and not do business?

"..."

She raised an eyebrow.

"Don't trust it?"

"A little."

"Just wear it." She put on a pair for herself as well. "See?"

Hesitantly, I put them on and noticed that I couldn't hear a thing.

Amazing...

It was so quiet that the annoying static noise that filled your ears whenever you entered a soundproofed room crept into my eardrums even though I was sitting on a tank.

Yuriko screamed at the Five Over and with several shockwaves indicating she had bypassed the speed of sound, she rushed towards the AAA at Mach 6.

In response, the unseen controller of the AAA fired a massive tungsten drill towards Yuriko. I heard incredible loudness through even the wonder earplugs... Though it was more like a loud thunderclap compared to the deafeningly loud noise that left me clutching me head in pain.

The result was incredible.

The drill seemed to stop moving when it came into close proximity to Yuriko before slowly but surely getting forced backwards and launched itself back at the Five Over almost twice the speed from before.

A glow caused by dust and sand in the air burning up burned itself into my eyes and a rush of air almost threw me off the tank if Maho had not caught me by the arm and allowed me to grab onto the cupola.

Her mouth moved.

No... Sound? OH THE EARPLUGS!

I wrenched them out of my ears and was bombarded by the sudden reappearance of noise.

"Go to your girl now. We are going to look for civilians." She ordered me before pushing me off the tank and rolling off into the distance.

Turning around, I watched as the Five Over slowly but surely fell from the sky. Japanese Air Force fighters moved in sync, chasing down and eliminating any remaining automated tanks or attack helicopters. Tanks rushed towards and among them, I noticed the eye-catching Senshadou team's antique tanks. Further back, ships that were spewing smoke from fires caused by non-lethal damage from the AAA were returning to base. I could even make out Mikoto's ship by her Destroyer's unique weapon.

And lastly, Yuriko knelt on the ground where she had landed, her two wings now a deep shade of black.

"REINA!" She lifted up her hand and punched the ground, cracking it open and causing a small scale earthquake.

"Yuriko…" I rushed up to her and embraced her in a hug but to my surprise, I wasn't thrown a few meters back and could feel her soft hair on my face. As I held her, her breathing calmed and her wings quickly dissipated, leaving behind a calm breeze.

"..."

"..."

As we were both kneeling, our eyes were level and I did one of the most cliché things of all. I kissed her. On the forehead at least. "Are you okay?"

With a few shallow pants and a slight smile, she replied in kind.

"I'm fine… and Haimura...?"

"Yeah. It's me."

"How are you here and… What happened?"

What happened? Did she forget what happened earlier?

Ah screw it we can deal with all that later. The most important thing to do now is to get her home to rest.

A Panther came towards us, flanked by a pair of Panzer IIIs and a StuG as well as a Panzer II trailing behind them. Musujime-san poked her head out of the turret hatch and waved.

"Hey... Our friends are here."

Yuriko's tired expression seemed confused for a second.

"You didn't answer my question. And... Friends?"

"We will discuss later okay? And yeah. Friends. If you forgot them, don't worry because I'm sure they remember you."

The sun rose, the rosy glow of early morning gone and becoming the stronger, more intense one of the coming noon.

"HEY! Kano-san! Climb on!" Musujime-san called out and the driver, Kinuhata-san poked her hand out of the driver's hatch and gave us a thumbs up.

"Come on. Lets go home. For real this time."

"Mmm" She smiled and closed her eyes. The earlier exertion must have left her exhausted. That's why I didn't press her earlier. Letting her get some rest is more important.

And the eventual funeral too...

I picked up Yuriko princess style and placed her on the flat area on the hull of the Panther, drawing several inquisitive glances from our schoolmates and more than a few chuckles or 'aww's.

As Yuriko lay her her head on my lap and fell into a well deserved sleep, I looked towards the gentle white clouds that held no semblance of the earlier monstrosities.

'I did it Worst... No... Reina. I did it. I brought her home.'

'Yeah. You did. Thank you kid... No... Heheh. Haimura.'

* * *

A.N. Omg this is so late. I'm sorry for the huge delay. I've had exams throughout the past weeks as well as several performances both big and small. The pains of being a music student while being a band member at the same time. I hope I did well for this one. Maybe not... I do know however, that i tried my best and im proud of it hehe.

Riyangedut: omg... Thats the best compliment I've ever received. Thanks! *Hugs* and of course, I tried to take into account your suggestions for writing. Heh.

Once again, THANKS FOR READING!  
and  
I HOPE YOU ENJOYED THIS CHAP!

Hugs to all readers. We're finally done with this arc. Next one is aftermath then back to normal life. Maybe another problem? The new Elements sound like an interesting enemy. But I really wanna do a lemon sooner or later. Wish me luck!


	18. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

"Today, we are here to commemorate the death of..."

I zoned out of what the priest was saying.

Today was Worst's... No, Reina's funeral. Heh. Despite knowing her for only a short while, it felt odd for me to call her by her given name instead of a nickname. It was as if I was friends with her for a long time already.

Despite the hot and humid air that was going around now and the large number of people gathered in black clothes that also contributed to the heat, no one was even fidgeting let alone complaining.

'Heh. If school was this hot, I have no doubt that everyone would be complaining. Loudly.' I thought to myself in a bid to get myself into a more positive emotional state.

Three days ago, Academy City had attacked Tokyo with a biological weapon called the Sample Shaggoth. It was designed to absorb organic matter and more importantly, create a hive mind that was capable of human consciousness and rational thought.

In response, the JSDF, Japanese Self-Defense Force had mobilized armored units to combat these creatures and several infantry units to evacuate the farmland and nearby estates where the Shaggoths were coming from. And thus, Academy City had sent out its entire private army of Five Overs, mechs, Objects, mercenaries and more to protect those monsters.

As a result, a small scale war had blown open and various organizations including schools had been called to help combat the threat.

All in all, there were almost two hundred JSDF casualties, four civilian deaths and one dead Elite Panzer Arm commander.

Reina.

Back to the funeral procession, various groups were taking their turns to place offerings on her grave and offer condolences to her immediate family.

The family in question was dressed entirely in black. Just like the rest of us. Reina's parents remained stoic and tried their best to appear as natural as they could, smiling and shaking hands with extended family members and friends. But the same couldn't be said for their daughters.

Mikoto was kneeling in front of Reina's grave, bawling her eyes out and screaming profanities at no one in particular as Misaka stood beside her and patted her head in a bid to comfort her sister while crying silently as well.

Their youngest sister, Last Order, was sitting on a nearby bench looking at the ground. A friend of hers sat beside her and tried her best to console Last Order but wasn't making much progress.

As for Yuriko... She was probably the worst of all of them, standing in stock silence behind Mikoto and Misaka, tears streaming from her eyes. Many people tried to talk to her but were ignored and they eventually gave up, leaving her alone.

Seeing them like this made my heart ache. After all, I had seen them a few weeks ago, happily playing with each other, teasing each other, getting into petty fights that led to tears of laughter.

"Don't bother going to them."

A woman's voice came from beside me.

She had long brown locks, sunglasses and wore a black fur jacket made of some thin material over a grey one-piece dress along with black tights and boots. The overall aura she gave off was of a supermodel thanks to the way she carried herself. A little like Reina's confident, smug look but more calculating and exotic.

"Who are you?"

"A close friend of Shiage-kun." She answered me with a smirk.

Shiage?

I racked my brain. Who was Shiage...

Grinning, she whipped out a cigarette and held it to her mouth. A small but incredibly bright green light appeared at the tip for a split second lit it up.

"If you don't know, it's fine. Another alias he goes by is Yuriko's father." she said condescendingly.

Ahhhhh. That made sense.

"Anyways Kano-san, a better time to help them would be after they're done crying." She turned on her heel and moved towards the grave. Probably to pay respects as well.

After standing there for a good ten seconds, I realized that the green light wasn't an illusion.

She had used it on command as a lighter to light her cigarette. Does that mean she's a Gemstone like Yuriko too?

My mind, which was filled with sorrow a few seconds before was now filled with questions.

Who was that woman and what was her connection to Yuriko's family? And more importantly, how did she know my name.

From my position leaning on a tree, I eyed her as she placed a bullet casing on Reina's grave before going to the bench where Last Order, I still hadn't learnt her real name, and the other girl were sitting.

"Come on Fremea. We gotta go. Last Order. Your parents said you can come along."

Looking to her parents for confirmation, to which they nodded with a small smile, her lips slowly but surely turned upwards and ran off with the other girl.

The woman came towards me.

"Good day to you too."

"You're done paying respects?"

"Mmm... It's too crowded now. I'll be back tomorrow. Now, my current job is to get Manami a little bit happier. She was really close to Reina even they fought every day."

She started to walk away.

"Wait." I grabbed her wrist. "How did you know my name? And who are you?"

"Oh? Are you interested? Well, I can't blame you. This body here is great ain't it? Anyway, my name is Mugino Shizuri. Pleased to meet you Kano Haimura-kyuuuun."

Washed with embarrassment, I quickly let go and looked at my feet. My shoes never looked to interesting before. Was that a little speck of mud?

"Haha! Don't worry about it. I'm just messing with ya." She ruffled my hair. "Be a little positive. You won't help her if you are just as sad as her." She whispered that last part.

"Anyway, bye!"

Within seconds, she had disappeared in the crowd.

* * *

Almost three hours had passed now. Earlier, I had learnt that many of the people here had worked with Reina before, either as friends or rivals from her Senshadou days. She had quite a name for herself, being a prodigy at all roles in tankery as well as a sensei with a great many students.

In addition, she had many partnerships with both local and overseas EPA, Haifuri and even the male equivalent of Senshadou - Kazoku.

Kazoku was essentially Senshadou without tanks. Instead, they operated armored cars and fought in foot with modified rifles that fired rubber rounds. The sport was rarely practiced and was only carried out in a few countries such as Japan and Germany. Even then, it was restricted to all-boys schools and selected universities due to its rather violent and aggressive nature.

I sat on a bench near then entrance for an hour or so. Closing my eyes and reciting several silent prayers for Reina.

"Eh? Ohaio Kano-san. How are you? Are you asleep?"

I pulled up my eyelids. Musujime-san stood in front of me, surrounded by our school's Senshadou team.

"Musujime-san? I'm... Fine. You?"

She put a finger to her chin and gestured for the rest to go about their business before plopping down beside me.

"I'm fine too I guess."

Her voice contained an obviously sad undertone that she was forcing down.

"You don't seem like it." I brushed aside a few strands of her red hair from her cheek. "Where are your ponytails today?"

"Ha?" Her face turned a bright red.

"Ah... Erm... Yeah... Err... We... Uh... The Senshadou team had worked with uhh... Wors-no... Reina during the Academy City incident and Kinuhata-san and Umidori-san were once Reina's students so they wanted to come. And we also wanted to thank her for teaching us so much during the brief time she spent with us... She's really nice..."

Ah she's babbling. Musujime-san had this bad habit where she went on and on about random topics when she was flustered. Which was a common occurrence in school whenever Etzali-san went to visit her during Senshadou practices to pass her a bento that she had forgotten to eat. Even when they got together, she got flustered really easily and was the target of tons of good natured teasing.

"Musujime-san. You're babbling again. Calm down." I gave her a small smile and ruffled her hair which was let down today.

"Uuuuuuuuuuuuuu Shut it." She folded her arms and pouted.

I swear, at times like these, I felt as if she was a little sister that I never had. And if she wasn't already interested in Etzali-san and I wasn't attracted to Yuriko, I would be head over heels for her.

Funny how with the appearance of Yuriko, so many of the relationships that I had with people I rarely knew improved so much.

Yuriko. The girl who didn't want friends had helped me get more friends apart from the trio of Touma, Fukiyose and Tsuchimikado.

"A-anyway. I have to go pay my respects. See ya!" Musujime-san tapped my nose and ran off.

I smiled at her quickly retreating back and turned back to the corner where Yuriko and her family were.

My smile turned back into a sad frown.

Yuriko was still standing in her original position. Unmoving. I checked the time.

It was around four in the afternoon. She had been standing there since the service began.

It's been nine hours.

Even Mikoto and Misaka were taking a nap on a bench behind their parents who were conversing with another group of girls. Probably another group of Reina's friends.

I considered going to Yuriko and getting her to rest but Mugino-san's words rang through my mind.

'A better time to help them would be after they're done crying.'

Clenching my fist, I fought the urge to run up to Yuriko and relaxed in my seat. The time to help would be after this.

* * *

The sun had gone down and the automated lights had switched on. Insects swarmed around the lights as crickets and cicadas sang their shrill songs.

Most visitors had already left. The Senshadou team had left an hour or so ago leaving behind Kinuhata and Umidori-san with Reina's old crew, Rumi, Azumi and Megumi. The girls who had come running to her destroyed tank immediately after the hail of bullets from the Object. They had only just left after offering to help us get some food.

I had also made several new acquaintances. Quenser, Hevia and Millinda. They were part of the Academy City force that had turned against their higher ups when they saw Reina sacrifice herself to save a few civilians and had come to pay respects. Tokyo had pardoned their entire battle group on the condition that they joined the JSDF which they happily accepted.

Currently, only Yuriko's family and the sound of crickets remained.

A calm breeze flowed through the yard, blowing some leaves into the air. Now, the hot and humid air had become strangely cool and quickly dried up the sweat on my neck. The flying leaves created a simple circle around Reina's grave before coming to a rest before Yuriko's feet.

"You should go to her now you know?" A calm and quiet voice came from behind me.

I turned quickly and saw a familiar face.

Maho Nishizumi.

She was wearing a black T-shirt and skirt with stockings and a pair of black sneakers. Leaning on the bench with her two arms a large black bag was attached to her back.

"Hey."

"Mm."

"Come to pray for Reina?"

"No. She wouldn't like that. She would much rather have a tank firing high explosives at a container stuffed with fireworks."

Heh. That sounds about right.

"Is that what you came here to do?" I asked jokingly.

"Sadly, the security guards at the entrance wouldn't let me drive my tank in. If I could I would." She said resignedly.

This woman... Was she a little off up there?

Taking my silence in stride, she got up and unstrapped her bag. Kneeling in front of the grave, she revealed a single 105mm HEAT round with a smiley face drawn on it.

"Remember when we used these against trainees? Remember how we got scolded for that along with Ikezawa-kun?"

She laughed a little. Even Yuriko's parents were caught by surprise from her conversation with the dead. Smiling, she touched the framed picture of Reina.

"I'm sure you do. So rest in piece okay?"

Maho turned, gave a curt nod to Yuriko's family and smacked my head.

"Argh. What was that fo-"

"Go to the girl already. No one should be coming till tomorrow. Get her to rest."

And with that, she strolled off, disappearing from view.

Turning to Yuriko's parents, they nodded to me and picked up Mikoto and Misaka.

"We will bring them home first. Can you take Yuriko home for us?" Yuriko's father, Suzushina Shiage asked with a smile.

"No problem." I gave him a thumbs up.

"Thanks."

I jogged over to where Yuriko was standing. Of all of the family, she was the hardest hit.

When she had woken up on the way home from the battlefield, she had lost all memory of everything that happened just before Reina died till after she destroyed the AAA. When we filled her in, she quickly realized that Reina's tank was nowhere to be seen and demanded to know.

We, Musujime-san and I had managed to hold off her questions till we got to her home and broke the news to her there.

Later, the entire family had returned to see a crying Yuriko punching a wall as her teary eyed mom and I tried to hold her back. A JSDF officer had also come to break the news and send their condolences which led to... Rather ear-piercing screams.

"Hey... Yuriko... You aren't listening aren't you?" I monotonously muttered.

Ever since that day, Yuriko has been this emotionless husk that refused to talk, eat and sleep. It was her parents that kept things going when their four daughters literally became shells of their former selves. Heck they even had to bathe Yuriko.

I had come by everyday and skipped school to help out with cleaning and stuff which brought a short lecture from her father whom I affectionately came to call uncle and her mom who I called auntie.

How original eh?

Eventually, they came to realize that I could not be chased away and instead started to thank me and treat me as a son. I can't say I disliked it but it felt kind of awkward. I guess that's what happens when you have five daughters. You kinda forget how to interact with boys.

"Yurikoooo... If you are not going to listen..."

I waited for a while.

She gave no reaction apart from a few tears rolling down her cheeks.

With a sigh, I used my leg to sweep her off her feet and caught her bridal style.

That made her wake up.

"Eh? Oh it's you... Haimura..." She trailed off.

"Unhappy to see me?"

"No... But could you put me down?"

I set her back on her feet.

"Its... Already night?"

"Mmhmm. Are you tired? Hungry? You've been standing there the entire day and havent eaten for two days."

"No. I'm fin-" She tripped over her own feet and fell forward. Rushing forward, I caught her and stabilized her.

"Yes. You are not fine. Come on." I turned and exposed my back to her. "Climb on. I know this nice ramen store."

I felt her take a small step back.

"But..."

"Reina wouldn't like it if you acted like this. If you were like this before the cremation ceremony she would understand. But now she has already been given a grave."

"But..."

"I'm not saying it's time to move on. It would be hypocritical of me. But your health comes first. Right? I'm sure she wouldn't want you to die of hunger or exhaustion."

"Mmm."

We stood there for a few minutes. Me standing in front of her, knees slightly bent, waiting for her to climb on as the gears her mind slowly started to move once again.

I felt a pair of arms wrap around my neck.

"Don't take this as an opportunity to touch me inappropriately or anything."

I grinned.

* * *

"How long more?"

"Just a little further."

"This is embarrassing you know?"

"I'm holding your crutch so people would understand."

"But still..."

We were now walking through the bustling night life of Tokyo.

After convincing her to get on my back, we walked through the forested area of the graveyard and took the train to a station that was three stops before her house.

The area here was not the quiet park that was her home nor was it the rundown streets and alleys of mine.

It was lively with bright lights everywhere and along the pavement were shops lined up against each other.

The smell of leather came from a nearby street cobbler while the scent of mapo tofu came from the shop beside us.

"Yuzuru. I want this." A short girl with long white hair pulled on a boy with short orange hair and pointed at the mapo tofu store.

"Hai hai Kanade no need to rush."

I gave him an understanding smile to which he grinned and shook his head in return.

Surprisingly, Yuriko noticed.

"Oi. What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means that he has a cute girlfriend and that I am jealous because I have a cute girl on my back but she isn't my girlfriend yet."

Klaxons rang in my mind. That is one of the most stupid things I have ever said. Now I risked getting a concussion.

"... I... Do... 't... ind..." A faint voice came from Yuriko.

"Hmm? I didn't catch that."

I played it off cool but I was still panicking.

"N-n-nothing. It's... Nothing."

Hmm? That's odd... I guess she's still a little off from the funeral. I can't blame her. Even though I barely knew Reina, I had shed more than a few tears during the wake and cremation ceremony.

We walked past several more stores and then turned into another equally crowded street.

This time, it was filled with couples.

I felt an intense pressure from behind me.

"Haimura… Explaination. Now."

"Ah. We're here!" I pointed towards a small slightly run down shop that was lined with wooden walls, tables and chairs. Small yellow lights illuminated the area and a steady stream of steam came flowing out of the kitchen like a cloud.

Earlier, I had barely escaped with my life if it wasn't for my sweet tongue and a quick dash through the crowd to pacify Yuriko's growing annoyance. Why were there so many couples going around now?

"This is the store you were saying was 'The most amazing ramen store in the area'?" She questioned me suspiciously.

"Yeap! It may not look like much but it's great!"

I set her down on a two person table. The smell of fried meats and dumplings wafted through the air. There was no loud chatter as the shop was in a rather secluded area but the people there were nice and it was run by a small family.

"What do they have here anyway?" Yuriko asked impatiently. The smell of food must be getting to her.

"Ahhh... Beef, chicken, pork ramen, dry or soup. And some side dishes if you want."

"Mm... I'll take chicken, dry."

Her stomach audibly growled. I grinned.

"Don't you dare start." She threatened.

Waving my hands, I walked backwards.

"Alright. Alright. No teasing."

Slowly but surely her usual self was returning.

I walked towards the counter and before I could even open my mouth, the ever attentive staff had called for me.

"Konnichiwa. May I take your order?"

"One pork and one chicken ramen. Both dry."

I returned her smile and engaged in small talk as she prepared the food.

"Haven't seen you for quite a while. How's things goin'?"

"Ah. It's fine. I brought a friend with me to try the food here."

"Saya. Stop flirting with Kano-san and make the coffee. I'll cook." Her brother called from behind and put on a pair of gloves.

"Sorry Kano-san. He was in the toilet earlier." She turned to her brother. "AND I WASN'T FLIRTING YOU DAMN IDIOT!"

He sweatdropped and ignored his sister.

"..."

"Hmm?"

"Tou... Did you wash your hands?" Saya and I asked simultaneously.

"Eh?! What's with this accusation?! As if I would do that again?!" He shouted indignantly at us.

"Well, it happened once and can happen again." Saya grumbled and quickly made two cups of coffee.

"Alright! Done. There ya go... And okay."

When Tou went to accommodate another customer, Saya quickly placed the coffee on my tray.

"On the house." She whispered. "But you still have to pay for the ramen. Don't tell anyone I give you coffee for free. It's just that I owe you one for helping me out with Kokonotsu."

"Heh. Thanks."

She winked. "No prob."

And that moment, I felt an immense crushing pressure from a certain someone glaring at me being friendly with Saya.

"What took so long?" Yuriko complained.

"Well, I'm friends with the twins that run the store."

"They run it?" Her eyes widened "Parents?"

"They own the store but the kids run it."

"Huh. Thanks for the meal by the way." My lips turned upwards. Teasing mode activated. "Does that mean its normal for me to pay?"

"Well of course." She said smugly as she mixed the noodles with the sauce, causing steam to rise and the smell of soy sauce and spring onions to fill our noses.

I waited for her to realize the hidden implication in her statement.

Three... Two...

"Eh...?"

One.

A lightbulb literally appeared over her head.

Her eyes widened in anger and embarrassment, blood rushing to her face and making her look like a strawberry.

"WHAT DID YOU JUST MAKE ME SAY?!"

I retreated and miraculously dodged a flying crutch. Adrenaline running through my veins, I panted and went off to retrieve the crutch from across the store. Fortunately, it hadn't hit anyone or anything.

"Hmph." Yuriko folded her arms and glared at me, hunger all but forgotten.

"Okay okay, sorry... It was my fault alright? I won't tease you anymore." I forced down my laughter and sat down opposite her.

With narrowed eyes, she accepted my apology and nodded.

I dug into my ramen. The dry ramen here was especially good. I wasn't sure what Tou-san did but he always managed to make it taste better than anywhere else even though the basic ingredients were the same.

"It's... Good."

"Hmm?"

I glanced at Yuriko who was smiling as she wolfed down her noodles.

The sight brought a tear to my eye. Seeing her enjoying herself somehow made me happier than when I myself was enjoying myself. What is this feeling of longing though...

"You aren't eating?" She asked me with a mouthful of food. Within thirty seconds, almost half her bowl was empty.

"You are really hungry aren't you? Not eating for two days my must have been tough in you." I stretched out my arm and placed my hand on her head, messing up her short white hair.

"Such a cute couple aren't they?" A woman sitting nearby commented.

"Ushio... Say ah... Hmm? Nagisa, which couple?" A man asked the woman, his wife as her looked up from feeding his daughter.

She pointed to us with her thumb. "Them."

"Yeah. They're cute. The girl is disabled no?"

"Disabilities have nothing to do with love." The woman chided the man for his comment.

Raising his arms in surrender, he conceded defeat. "Hai, hai. Ushio say ah."

After hearing that conversation from a nearby table, my face turned a bright red.

"..."

I removed my hand and angled my head to look at Yuriko's face which was hidden by her hair.

"Haimura..."

"Eh? What's with that voice that sounds like you want to kill me?!"

I glanced past Yuriko to see a laughing Saya whispering something to a guffawing Tou.

"You really have to learn the meaning of restraint." Yuriko growled.

Ah shit.

I ended the call.

"Your parents said it's fine for you to come over."

"Are you sure? Don't you have anyone at home you need to ask for permission or something?"

"No one in particular... Other than the landlord but I doubt the old woman will care."

She nodded.

"It's so dark."

"Well we had stayed there for too long since you wanted to attack me and now the train service has stopped."

"Hmm... That was good though. The food I mean."

"But you didn't have to hit me..."

Once again, I carried Yuriko on my back. Her good leg still wasn't able to support her weight due to fatigue and thus relied on me to carry her on piggy back. Which as you might guess brought quite a number of 'aww's and laughs.

"Can we go there to eat again?" Her tone held excitement and anticipation. Something I haven't heard since... Our first outing together.

Not date. She would kill me if I said that was a date anyway. And in a sense, today's trip could actually be considered a date.

"And we gotta bring Mikoto and Misaka along. Maybe Last Order can come when she's older since it's kinda spicy and we can get Worst to drive... Us..." Her happy voice suddenly turned quiet.

Suddenly, the weight of the world seemed to be crushing me. An overwhelming silence came from what was earlier the cheerful ramblings of a normal high school girl.

"Worst..."

I felt several wet droplets hit my shoulder. Even the sounds of insects were unheard.

"Yuriko..."

*Sniff* "Ah... Oh my god... Sorry... Its just that I... Uh..." She caught herself and tried her best to tell me that she was fine but I didn't buy into any of it.

"Eh? Haimura? What are you doing?"

We were at one of the more secluded alleys where pretty much no one came through during the night.

I set her down and pushed her back to a wall and pinned her to it. Face to face, our breathing stopped and we stared at each other in silence.

A strong gust of wind rushed past us and blew Yuriko's hair over her face.

"Haimura... I'm sorry about earlier but it's really hard for me and... and..." Yuriko quickly lost her composure and started to machinegun words nonsensically, trying to explain her situation that I already understood.

'Go for it.'

A mysterious voice filled my ears as I stared into Yuriko's teary, red eyes.

"And... I'm sorry about this and that because I was trying to cover fo- Ah!"

I placed my forehead on hers.

"Shhh."

"Eh... Haimura what are you?"

"Shhh."

"But..."

"Shhh."

Everytime she tried to speak, I shushed her. The first thing I had to do was to calm her down.

"..."

And then.

Our breathing started in sync.

As our foreheads were touching, I could feel her every movement. It was almost as if I could feel her every thought as well.

"Our heartbeats..." I started.

"Have the same rhythm." She finished with a sniff.

"You don't have to apologize. And you don't have to blame yourself for what happened. I know what you're thinking Yuriko. You think that you caused her death didn't you?"

"But!"

"No buts. I know how it feels to lose someone precious. It's normal to feel sad, normal to even forget that they are dead and believe they are alive. But-"

"Heheh. You said 'but' you bloody hypocrite." She giggled.

Smiling, I finished up my sentence. "No matter how long you take to grieve or no matter how badly you cry, always remember my promise."

"And it's that you will take care of me?"

"Not just that. More importantly, it's that I will never leave yo-"

!

My mouth... No... My lips... Yuriko is... Kissing... Me?

After a few seconds of confusion and consideration of what to do, I decided to go along with it.

Closing my eyes, and as a result closing the gap between us, we melted into each other. Her hands wrapped around my neck as I held up my body with my elbows and my fingers played with her hair. Our bodies were touching and an electric feeling went through my body.

Yuriko seemed to want more but I willed my self control to return and pulled back with a smile.

"Haimura… Thanks for being here for me."

"Hmph." I took the chance to act cool. "Its my duty isn't it?"

"…"

"Eh?"

"That was some horrible acting Haimura…" She giggled.

* * *

Ahh... I can't get my key like this.

My arms were already dead tired from carrying Yuriko all that way. Even with the adrenaline rush that came with the kiss, it was barely enough to sustain me all the way back.

I felt a drop of water on my shoulder.

Was she crying again?

Mustering up my strength, I managed to support her with one arm and looked over my shoulder.

Why, it was just drool.

Wait... Drool? Oh god no.

"Hey... Yurikoooo. Wake up."

"Mmm. Five minutes more..."

*Sigh*

I put her down on the floor and rummaged through my bag.

"Ugh... This slime... Not that I mind but... Ughh..."

Phone... Wallet... Key? No wrong one... Tissue paper... Portable charger... Zipper... Ah home key.

"I'm home!" I called out as a force of habit.

Despite living alone for years, it was still an ingrained habit of mine to say that.

"Mm? Didn't you say there was no one at home?" Yuriko mutterred groggily.

"Yeah. No one's home. C'mere..." I picked her up and set her on the sofa.

"Make yourself at home. The phone is there, the TV remote is there and... Well nothing I guess. I'm gonna take a bath first alright?"

"Hai. Eh..."

"Hmm?"

"Why is your shoulder wet?

"It's your drool hehe."

Her calm demeanor immediately changed. Looking horrified with herself, she asked again.

"My drool?"

"Mmhmm."

Heh. I am ashamed to admit it but watching her get flustered like that is really amusing.

"Oh my god. I'm so sorry."

"Nah it's fine. Call if you need anything!"

~~~~~~~~~~Yuriko~~~~~~~~~

The toilet door locked with a click. Sitting down, I took several deep breaths to get my mind to a more alert state.

"Ah... That was embarrassing..." I spoke to myself.

I touched my lips. I felt bad for enjoying myself so soon after my sister died but it happened.

Then the full weight of guilt came crashing down when I realized what I had done.

How could I... Just forget about her and enjoy myself? I should be mourning her! My reflection stared right back at me from the black television screen. For a second, the word reflection brought up a flood of bad memories. Images of Reina's tank getting destroyed by an Object as Academy City planes blew past overhead. I remembered my friend, the Rhinoceros Beetle being sucked into some kind of miniature black hole.

And what did I do? I sat there on the ground. Useless. If I had listened to Haimura and stayed home... Maybe none of that would happen. Reina would still be alive. The Beetle would still be around... No matter how annoying he was at times, he was still the person who helped me with my paralysis. And still hadn't thanked him properly.

With a clenched fist, I slammed it down on the wooden arm rest, accidentally activating my power and cracking it.

"Yuriko? Are you okay?"

Huh? Haimura?

Wearing only his shorts, he had hurriedly ran out of the shower when he heard the loud crack of wood.

"Ah..."

How am I supposed to explain this?

"Come on, get rid of that scowl. It doesn't suit you." He said with a smile.

Scowl?

"Huh?"

"Mmhmm. It doesn't suit you."

He strode up next to me and knelt down.

"Are you still blaming yourself?"

"How did you know?"

Haimura always seemed to have this sixth sense that enabled him to accurately pinpoint what I was thinking.

"Because if I was in your shoes, I would be blaming myself as well." Getting up, he grabbed a T-shirt from a nearby cupboard and put it on. "As usual, I can't say that I know how you feel. But I can say that I can imagine. Afterall, that's all I've ever been good at."

What was he saying? Wasn't he supposed to be angry that I broke his sofa? Wasn't he supposed to be annoyed that I'm so annoying?

"So let it all out. Shout. Scream. Hit. Let it all out. I'll always be here to listen."

I sat there in silence for a while as he stood in front of me, making me crane my neck to look him in the eye.

"Let it all out huh..."

He nodded.

I took a deep inhale.

"THEN TELL MY WHY AM I SO FUCKING USELESS?! ALL I DID WAS MALE TROUBLE! WHEN I MISUNDERSTOOD YOU, I USED MY POWER BUT WHEN I REALLY NEEDED IT, I LET PEOPLE DIE!"

With every sentence, I felt as if a weight was being lifted from my chest.

"REINA... REINA DIED TO SAVE ME WHEN I COULD HAVE STAYED HOME LIKE I WAS TOLD BUT NOOOO I HAD TO GO OUT AND GET HER KILLED! FOR FUCKS SAKES WHY AM I SO USELESS?! AND YET HERE I AM ENJOYED MYSELF WHRN I SHOULD BR REPENTING FOR MY SINS!"

I started to punch his stomach in accordance to each word I said as tears began to flow again.

"Why... Why am I so... Useless."

Arms wrapped around me head.

"Because you aren't."

!

Haimura levelled his face to mine and put our foreheads together like earlier. For some reason, it was extremely calming and helped soothe my mind.

"No one blames you. Yes. You made a few mistakes here and there but they would never have led to Reina dying or your Beetle friend disappearing."

Our noses touched.

"So stop blaming yourself. I said it earlier and I'll say it again. Don't apologize to me, her or anyone. You didn't do anything wrong. And I do know that Reina wouldn't want you to be sad."

-Nine years ago-

"Yuriiiiiiiii! Come here! Look at this!"

Reina stood proudly atop a large metal box.

Pulling Mikoto along and carrying Misaka on my back, I peeped out from behind the door.

"Nee-chan... What's that?"

She beamed.

"It's a tankette! A mini tank! I managed to convince my teacher to let me drive it home so I could show you!"

"Tank... ette?" I had heard of tanks before like when Reina was trying to let mom and dad let her take up... Senshyado or something... I couldn't remember the word.

"Mmhmm!" She nodded and pulled me by the arm. "This one is a CV thirty-three! It's for two people but since we're small, all of us can fit!"

"What about Manami?"

Reina put a finger to her chin. "She's too small now... But I'll work hard! I'll work hard and become so good at driving that they will let me bring home a bigger tank when she's bigger so all of us can go together!"

-Five years ago-

"Yuri! Miko! Misa! Last Order!"

"What is it Worst?"

We emerged from home as a group.

"Remember when I said I'll get a bigger tank? Here it is! This one is a panzer four ausf... G? H? I forgot hehehe." She tapped her knuckle on her head and stuck out her tongue.

"Onee-chan so funny!" Last Order shouted out from her perch on my back.

"Misaka is impressed Misaka says as she looks at the size of the tank." Misaka gave Worst an approving look.

"Mmhmm! I still remember when we got on the CV... Something a long time ago!" Mikoto ran up and started to climb the tank.

-Two years ago-

"Ey. Yuri."

Worst creeped up behind me and tapped my forehead.

"What is it this time Worst?" I asked exasperatedly.

"I got accepted by EPA!"

"Does that mean you will be in more dangerous situations? Being a tank instructor in a jeep is just as dangerous as being a professional sports tanker that can be activated by the army." My worry was shared among the entire family. Worst was currently a professional Senshadou instructor that didn't drive around in a tank. She drove around in a jeep. Sometimes even in a Toyota. Now that she was in the EPA, who knew what kind of dangerous situations she would be in.

She nodded excitedly.

"Yeap! But that's impossible innit? For me to get killed. And if I did... I want my funeral to be happy ya know? Like... Fireworks and a bunch of tanks in the background. If it's like one of those boring old sad, crying things my ghost would be bored as hell wouldn't it?"

-Four months ago-

"Cheer up a little. That frown doesn't suit you."

Worst placed a finger on my chin in a bid to comfort me. She had just found out about the bullying in my school that came as a result of my head injury making me drop from the top of the school to the bottom.

"Why... Can't I remember the things I studied last night? It's all foggy... And when i try to write... It's all messy and..."

"Shhh..."

"But..."

"Chill. Take a chill pill. I got one here."

Worst whipped out a sweet from her breast pocket.

"I didn't come to your school with a tank for nothing you know? I already applied for you to leave the school. The paperwork takes time but you'll be outta here soon."

"You went through all that trouble for me?"

"You're my imouto are you not?" She leaned over and kissed my forehead. "I'll do whatever I can to protect you until the day you find someone I can bestow you to."

"Really?"

"Of course! So cheer up! If any of these fuckers tries to mess with you they're gonna be messing with that."

She pointed to her tank; A pitch black Japanese Type 10. In contrast to the color scheme, her crew was sitting on the turret playing cards.

"God. Those three really know how to spoil the scene."

I burst out laughing.

"Eyyyy. I got you to laugh! Come on. We're going home. I'll make Rumi walk home so you can sit in."

He was right. From the very start, Reina had always wanted me to be happy. She had always wanted everyone around her to be happy.

She never blamed anyone and she never blamed herself. That was just who she was.

"Hah..."

"Hmm?"

"You were right Haimura. She would want me to be happy wouldn't she?"

"No doubt."

I felt his breath on my lips. We were centimeters apart... No millimeters apart. The slightest movement would bring us together.

'Go for it Yuri.'

I could feel Reina's voice in my heart. And I finally realized what she would have wanted me to do.

She would have wanted me to enjoy life to the fullest. No matter what happened to her, she would still love me because...

I am her sister.

The answer had been there all along. And Haimura was the one that helped me realize it.

'Go for it'

'Yeah. I will.'

Before I could take the initiative to move forward, Haimura's arms surrounded my body and pulled me towards him, crushing his lips into mine.

They were surprisingly soft. Though they looked rather cracked at times, I daresay I have never felt anything so soft in my life.

Even though I couldn't breathe, an electric shock would run through my mind every second and make me yearn for more.

Suddenly, he parted our lips and started to gasp for air.

"Did you... Mind?"

"Maybe."

I wanted to tease him like he always teased me.

"Eh?! I thought I got the timing right! I felt you start moving so I initiated it!"

Now it was his turn to get flustered and stumble on his words.

"Nahh just kidding. The timing couldn't be better."

"Whew... You understood what I meant earlier?"

"Yeah. Though it was more of you making me notice what was under my nose the entire time."

"Thats good. And Yuriko."

"Hmm?"

"You kinda stink."

"..."

"Just the usual sweat smell though nothing too bad hehe."

"HAIMURAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

~~~~~~~~Haimura~~~~~~~~~

Am I in heaven?

This must be every boy's dream. To see the girl they like wearing their clothes.

"It's... Big..." Yuriko said as she twirled her fingers in the oversized cloth.

After bathing, we belatedly noticed that she didn't have any clothes. And all I had were a few shirts that were a little too big for her small stature.

"What does that face mean?" She pointed a slender finger at me accusingly.

"Ah... Uh... I... Uh..."

She raised an eyebrow.

Sweatdropping, I admitted my current train of thought.

"Haimura, I didn't catch that. Is it something that I should whack you for?"

What am I supposed to say?! If I tell her she's cute, I'd get hit. If I say that it's a dream come true, she would attack. Pretty much everything I did will result in me getting physically hurt.

"Hmm?" She pressured me. Her red eyes boring into mine like a drill bit.

"You... Look really cute..."

"..."

I noticed steam coming from her head.

"DON'T SAY THINGS LIKE THAT ON THE FLY YOU IDIOT!" She picked up a pillow and lobbed it at my face.

"Well!" I caught it and ducked under the next projectile. "You pressured me to say it!"

Her face turned even redder.

"Well, it is every boy's dream to see a girl they like wearing their clothes..."

A vein popped on her forehead. Embarrassment getting the best of her, she gave up and slammed her head down on the futon.

"I can't beat you at this..." She grumbled almost inaudibly.

"Beat me at?"

"Saying embarrassing things."

"Heh. Tsundere. But weren't you being deredere earlier?" Memories of our kiss from earlier rushed through my train of thought.

"Hmph. Call me that again and you will never see the light of day again."

"Call you what? Tsundere?"

"..."

And at that moment, I knew.

I f*cked up.

* * *

"I'm going to end up at a hospital at this rate."

"You won't if you don't say embarrassing things."

"Heh. Rather hypocritical when you were the one to start holding hands."

"Shut up."

I looked at Yuriko. Though it may be wrong to say look since the lights were off and the windows covered.

We are lying next to each other now... On the same futon.

The original idea was for me to sleep on the couch. But after Yuriko cracked it... Let's just say it could no longer support my weight.

The overhead fan spun rapidly, making soft but kinda annoying squeaking noises. I didn't mind it but I wasn't sure about Yuriko. Her home was much larger than mine after all.

I lay there for hours. Unable to sleep due to both the situation beside me and in my pants as well as the absurdity of it. In what world does the girl sleep with the guy on their first sleep over? Heck! Even though we kissed we aren't officially together yet. Are we?

We lay there for what seemed like hours. Even when her breathing evened out and fell asleep, I could barely even close my eyes.

"Mm."

An arm stretched itself over my chest.

"Eh?! YURIKO! HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO SLEEP LIKE THIS?!"

"Mmhmm..."

I sweatdropped. She's still asleep after that shout? And how am I supposed to sleep now when she is using my body as a bolster?

A gust of wind came through the window, blowing open the curtains and allowing a small stream of light from the nearby street lamps to come in, illuminating Yuriko's face.

Heh. Her sleeping face showed all the things that she tried to hide when she was awake. If you were to look at her now, her delicate features, soft white hair and thin lips would have made her seem like a shy, quiet girl that would blush at the slightest compliment.

Sadly, it was the exact opposite of her cool, calm persona that she gave off in school as well as her tsundere tendencies.

I brushed away some of the hair covering her face and nuzzled her. She smelled... Like a guy.

ARGHH! WHYYYYY DON'T I HAVE ANY WOMEN'S SOAP?! NOW SHE SMELLS LIKE ANTIBACTERIAL SOAP! AREN'T GIRLS SUPPOSED TO SMELL LIKE FLOWERS OR SOMETHING?!

Sighing, I quietly detached my arm from the snoring girl beside me and crept out of the room.

"I hope she doesn't wake up..."

Even though my escape was perfect, not a single sound, I still felt extremely nervous. As if I was a thief trying to break into a home. Every sound seemed amplified. The sound my shorts made when I walked sounded like sandpaper scraping on metal.

I shut the door to the room and tip-toed my way to my makeshift music room.

Ah I never described it before didn't I?

Inside was a normal upright piano as well as an electric one that was hooked up to a mixer and a computer. It was some of my grandfather's old things that he left behind for me. The walls were covered with a layer of egg cartons. Two to be exact. It wasn't a really good dampener but it worked fine for me and my neighbors. The door was also rather thick. Being covered with a layer of cardboard followed by more egg cartons increased its weight... Slightly.

Switching on my keyboard, I hooked up my earpiece and dialled a number.

"Hello? Arisa-chan? Sorry to call you at this time... Oh you were practicing? Thats good... Yeah I got a favor to ask... Mmhmm... I got an idea for a new song. If you don't mind could I ask for a little help? The band performance is in December? Oh okay I don't mind! Sure! Thanks!"

* * *

"Uuuuuuuuuuuuuu I forgot we had to wake up early to go to your house..."

We were on the train to Yuriko's.

"Well, it's your fault for being unable to sleep."

There was school today and I had completely forgotten about it.

"Ughhhh... Eh?"

We had to go to Yuriko's to get her uniform the go back to school.

"What's with the sudden change of tone?"

"Well, I just realized we have a good chance of meeting Touma and Index-chan."

"Eh? We do?"

"Mmhmm. He usually sends her to school then meets up with Fukiyose and goes to school."

"Fascinating..."

"... Whats with that tone that makes you seem like you are an animal researcher watching two animals copulating?"

Her face turned dark and her eyes glowed red.

"What's with saying something so nonsensical that it makes me want to send you to a hospital?"

Knowing that I was doomed, a heavenly blessing came to save me.

"Oh hey! Kano-san! And... Suzushina-san?!"

"Ey Onii-chan. Did Kano-dono get a girlfriend?"

Index and Touma appeared behind us.

I ran up to Touma and held him in front of me, using him as a shield to put as much distance between me and the angry Yuriko.

"Hello! Index! Long time no see! How are you? Touma. Can you be my meat shield for a while?" I whispered the last part.

"Uhh... Why? Did you make her angry?" He said out loud, alerting Yuriko to my thoughts.

"Haimura. Do you want to get him killed as well?" She snarled.

Oblivious to the situation, Touma continued to question me trivial things as Index facepalmed at his stupidity and went to play with Sphinx the calico cat who was stashed inside her bag. Apparently her back was void of books. Her perfect memory had already memorised all the contents in her books.

"Oh yeah! You two are on a first-name basis right? How are you two not together yet?"

"! DUCK!"

He was promptly knocked out by a flying crutch.

"Why do we have to go back to meet his stupidity again?"

The bus stopped outside our school.

After we said bye to the siblings, we had encountered a protective father, an amused mom as well as inquisitive twins. By sheer luck, I had survived the madness that would have given a war veteran chills.

"Well, Fukiyose will be there to help you. You can beat him up together." I replied cheerfully, drawing glances from other students.

I noticed Arisa waving to me from the music room window.

"Uhhh... Yuriko... I gotta go for a bit. Can you make it to class on your own?"

Her eyebrows went up. "Hmm? Okay I guess. Whats the occasion?"

"Nothing much. I have a project of sorts."

"Mm."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Mmhmm..."

I shot her a look.

"I'M SAYING GO! ITS NOT LIKE I'M ANNOYED THAT YOU'RE GOING SOMEWHERE OR ANYTHING!" She shouted, her face flushed red.

"Uhh..." I put a hand on her forehead. "Calm down a little. Everyone's looking."

"..."

"I didn't catch that."

"You say that while touching my head."

Do I need to explain the acts of violence that occurred?

* * *

"Ah... I'm here Arisa-chan... Sorry for being late."

"Ahhahahaha, it's fine. I could see you two from here. You've gotten really close huh." She said coyly.

She struck a pose with her hands behind her back and her face close to mine.

"Well, let's get started! What do you need help with?"

Ah... The change of topic was really fast.

"Uhh... I have this idea for a song I wanna do... But I can't really think of lyrics. You know me right?"

When it came to composing, I was hopeless. Being unable to think of lyrics to go with a melody was my greatest weakness. However, I still am unbeaten when it comes to improvising on the fly. Arisa on the other hand, was a great lyricist and arranger. She's the top scorer for music and one of the school band's leaders after all.

"Hmm... Then how about covering a song? You can change the tempo and play it in your own style but use the lyrics from someone else."

"Huh... I never thought of that... All my covers are improvisations for piano solo though..."

"True..." She scratched her head. "You want a nice romantic song right?"

"Eh?! No! I just want one with nice lyrics."

Her eyes narrowed.

"Ooooohh for Su-zu-chan am I right?"

She nailed it... Why am I complaining? It's as obvious as day that I have feelings for her...

"Mmhmm..."

"Huhu... You two are so cute! Anyway... How about this one? The lyrics are decent."

This went on for a good hour or so, going through over fifty songs. Of course, I received a ton of good natured teasing from Arisa and a few snarky comments from Shutaura who joined us for the fun of it.

"Mmm... Kano-san. Please don't be so picky..." Arisa voiced tiredly.

"Ahhh but none of them have lyrics that I really like!"

"Then compose it yourself!"

"GRRRRRR" "ARGGHHHHH"

Shutaura held her arms out and slammed our heads together. That girl is strong... Playing airsoft really helps.

"Just make up your mind! Lessons started an hour ago!"

An hour?

EHHHHHHHHH?!

"WHAT?! AN HOUR?" "NANI!?"

Panicking, we grabbed our bags and started to flee but were caught by an annoyed Shutaura.

"Are you two idiots? It's the middle of lessons now. Go back during recess."

Ah...

"Mmph."

Arisa covered her mouth and shut here eyes tightly before bursting into a fit of giggles. Soon after, all of us were laughing at the ridiculousness of the situation we were in.

Then I felt the sudden urge to sneeze.

~~~~~~~~~Yuriko~~~~~~~~~~

The short pink haired teacher looked to me.

"Ah Suzushina-san. Have you seen Kano-san? I thought he came to school today."

Should I sabotage him?

I glanced at Tsuchimikado who was nodding his head furiously and grinning.

"No. I didn't see him in school today."

~~~~~~~~Haimura~~~~~~~~~

"Anyway... What song should I pick?!" I glared at the title of the song that Arisa showed me. (K)new name? It doesn't even fit the reason why I wanted to write the song.

"If you're so picky, then why not compose it yourself!" Arisa crumpled up the piece if paper that was filled with rejected ideas.

"If you two keep arguing I'm just going to give you a song." Shutaura whipped out her phone and started playing a song.

 _'Yatto me wo samashita kai sore na no ni naze me mo awase ya shinai'n dai?  
"Osoi yo" to okoru kimi koredemo yareru dake tobashite kitanda yo _

_Kokoro ga karada wo oikoshite kitanda yo_

 _Kimi no kami ya hitomi dake de mune ga itai yo  
Onaji toki wo suikonde hanashitakunai yo  
Haruka mukashi kara shiru sono koe ni  
Umarete hajimete nani wo ieba ii? _

_Kimi no zen zen zense kara boku wa kimi wo sagashi hajimeta yo  
Sono bukiccho na waraikata wo megakete yatte kitanda yo _

_Kimi ga zenzen zenbu naku natte chirijiri ni nattatte  
Mou mayowanai mata ichi kara sagashi hajimeru sa  
Mushiro zero kara mata uchuu wo hajimete miyou ka _

_Dokkara hanasu kana kimi ga nemutteita aida no SUTOORII  
Nan'oku nankounenbun no monogatari wo katari ni kitanda yo kedo iza sono sugata kono me ni utsusu to _

_Kimi mo shiranu kimi to jarete tawamuretai yo  
Kimi no kienu itami made aishite mitai yo  
Ginga nankobun ka no hate ni deaeta  
Sono te wo kowasazu ni dou nigitta nara ii? _

_Kimi no zen zen zense kara boku wa kimi wo sagashi hajimeta yo  
Sono sawagashii koe to namida wo megake yatte kitanda yo _

_Sonna kakumei zenya no bokura wo dare ga tomeru to iu'n darou  
Mou mayowanai kimi no HAATO ni hata wo tateru yo  
Kimi wa boku kara akiramekata wo ubaitotta no _

_Zen zen zense kara boku wa kimi wo sagashi hajimeta yo  
Sono bukiccho na waraikata wo megakete yatte kitanda yo _

_Kimi ga zenzen zenbu naku natte chirijiri ni nattatte  
Mou mayowanai mata ichi kara sagashi hajimeru sa  
Nankounen demo kono uta wo kuchizusami nagara'_

"Mm! That's nice!" Arisa clapped her hands together and gave me a piercing look. I had a feeling that if I rejected it, my life would be on the line.

But I wasn't going to reject it.

"That's... Perfect! Thanks Shutaura-san!" I jumped forward and hugged her. She was slightly taller than me so it looked a little awkward, making Arisa burst out laughing.

"Eh? Heh... No problem..." She trailed off and her whole body stiffened.

Arisa's laughing suddenly cut off. A cold chill ran down my spine.

Three voices came from behind me and spoke in sync. I recognized them as Touma, Fukiyose and Tsuchimikado.

"You. Are. Screwed."

A demon, with eyes as red as blood and hair as white as snow hefted her weapon. Her silvery crutch seemed to glow with a golden light as if it was a holy sword.

"Do you wish for your life to end? HAIMURA!"

* * *

A.N. Hihi! I got this one even longer than the ones before and in an even shorter time! I don't know what I am doing... And the main reason why i could do it was because my exams were over... I failed a few of them *cries* but i had it coming XD

MarkJ and Riyangedut: THANKS FOR READING THRU IT AND ENJOYING XD It really lit up my day when i saw both your reviews!

As you can tell, this one was about the turmoils of Yuriko's mind. She wants to enjoy herself after all the trouble is gone but cant fully do so because of Worst... well, dying. A few cameos from other animes too haha! I am also not too sure about Arisa's(Endymion) character other than shes really nice and thoughtful so i tried to depict her as caring and helpful but also capable of getting angry with a classmate.

The song is... actually a project i am working on in real life. Its Zen Zen Zense from the new movie : Kimi no Na wa. Im making an orchestral arrangement for it for the fun of it and while writing i thought: why make them fight? let just let the characters have a nice long break. Get ready for a huge combined concert, a winter festival, a holiday and... a new years one? Maybe a lemon squeezed in there. I really want to write it but i noticed Yuriko and Haimura are still 17 =.= and after all that maybe one last fighting arc about Yuuitsu and the elements. But lets not get too far ahead of ourselves eh?

(im sorry kamachi senpai but NT16 was a bit of a letdown... I thought it would be along the lines of a slightly insane Mikoto being saved by Touma and Misaki joining forces judging from the darkness that Mikoto encountered at the end of NT15. No Aleistier and Accel too... the last we saw of our beloved vector change was when he fell into the kamisato faction. I guess world rejecter wouldnt affect him since his only aim is to protect last order and crush anything in his way haha though the magic attacks may hit him... ah well i have no doubt he won. And im happy that Dark Matter in the novels is friends with Fraulein. My ship is slightly legit!)

Okay, enough with my rant. Once again, I hope you enjoyed it. Please leave a review or a fav or follow if you can! it really makes my day. erm... the new picture was a doodle i did in school of Yuriko. the main idea came from this though : 1002742 so you can say it was a copy hehe. i love all you readers! 1.6k views?! *cries of joy* XD (i have low standards)


	19. Chapter 18

Chapter 18  
Haimura

Whaaaaa?!

"Where are you guys going?!"

Shutaura was grinning madly at my pain stricken face while Arisa shot me a sympathetic gaze.

"The school band is going on a training trip to Nagasaki for a masterclass. It's your fault for not joining the band despite me asking you to." Arisa replied calmly.

"She asked you multiple times." Shutaura poured and rubbed salt into my gaping wound.

"What about Yuriko?!" I whined. "Can't I come along?! And it's in the middle of the term!"

"Nope. I don't want to deal with your stupidity. I need the lessons." Yuriko said as she walked past and smacked me on the head as she went.

"Hn… I find it weird too but you can't argue with sensei. If she wants to go now, she wouldn't care even if it is the exam period." Arisa tried to console me. "You can text here though."

I felt sympathetic looks from the other band members around me. Getting chased away by a friend was one thing. Getting kicked out of the picture by someone you were on a first-name basis was a whole new level of sad.

"Fine..." I miserably stumbled out of the music room.

~~~~~~~~~~Yuriko~~~~~~~~~

"To be honest... I feel kinda bad for the guy... Suzushina-san... Was it really nessasary to be so cold?" Arisa who was standing beside me watched his retreating form.

"Mm... I feel kinda sorry for him too... But he deserves it for all the embarrassment he puts me through whenever we go out." I mumbled as memories of him teasing me in public reappeared in vivid colors.

Shutaura appeared from behind me.

"Ooohhh. 'Whenever we go out' huh? Fascinating choice of words Suzushina-san. Coincidence or actuality hmm?"

I felt blood rush to my cheeks. That damn guy still managed to find a way to embarrass me even when he is not around didn't he?

"Anyway," Shutaura completely ignored what she previous said and went on to a new topic. "The trip won't be for a few days. How many more days hm?"

The girl that was asked the question hugged me from behind and pressed her noticibly larger chest on my back, inducing a slight rush of jealousy-fueled anger.

"It's in three days. You still have plenty of time to make up with hi-Ugh."

She never did complete her sentence as a fist was firmly planted on her grinning face.

* * *

Ughhhh... Why do I have to wake up this early?

I narrowed my eyes at the area where the sun was slowly starting to rise. It was a comfortable temperature but the lack of wind made it slightly warmer than I liked.

Birds flew overhead, chirping while others dug in the ground or trashcans, searching for insects or the occasional scrap of food.

As you may have guessed, it was very early in the morning. Five in the morning to be exact.

I fumbled with my phone. Haimura probably hasn't woken up yet. I don't know why, but I missed the guy. We spent a few hours together every day so this three day trip would be one of the longest stretches of time I would spend without him.

What am I thinking about?!

I shook my head to get rid of the blush forming on my cheeks. Damn him. Making me embarrassed even when he was asleep.

"Hurry up! Pack up quickly and we can go quickly!" Shutaura shouted at the band members scrambling around her. Everyone was hurriedly checking their instruments and equipment, everything from files to luggage were checked, double checked and triple checked.

The trip was a three day two night thing. The first day would be the masterclass with a conductor... I forgot his name. And then we had the night to ourselves to adventure.

I had no idea about the other days though. Shutaura should brief us later.

I returned to packing my equipment after watching the band for a wmfew seconds.

Mouthpiece... Check. Polishing cloth... Check. Tuner... Full battery. I had it lucky didn't I? Flute players didn't need to bring much

A boy shouted to me as I was about to leave the music room. "Hey! Suzushina-san. Can you help me grab those?"

"Hmm?" I turned in a circle. "What are 'those'?"

The boy facepalmed while holding a bass drum with one hand and pointed at the drum sticks on the table beside me.

"Be clearer next time." I chided.

"Hai hai."

During my short time with the band, I had quickly become known as the 'tyrannical junior' thanks to my attitude towards the seniors. Normally, a junior who treated their seniors without respect and admiration by scolding them would be quickly become a target for bullying but since I was under Arisa's protection, they had grown to accept me and have generally become used to it.

"Are you okay with that?"

The boy moved unsteadily while carrying the bass drum.

"No problem. I've done it multiple times."

"Okay then."

The walk was mostly in silence. The other band members were running past quietly or carrying instruments of their own.

"Suzushina-san." He broke the silence. "Why are you so... Prim and proper?" The boy wheezed a question while struggling to carry the bulky, twelve kilogram drum up a small flight of stairs leading to the pickup point.

The pickup point was where a lorry was waiting for us to load up our instruments and bring them to the airport.

"Prim and proper? Who the hell says that?" I shot back coldly without answering his question.

"Well... Ugh... You scold us whenever we are unclear or use slang or slack off. Usually juniors would just join us." He mumbled and put down the drum at the top of the stairs, panting heavily.

It must be sad to be a percussionist whenever a performance came up.

"I'm just stating the facts." I replied nonchalantly. "If you deserve the scolding I will scold."

"Mm. It's just your character eh? I guess most of the other seniors will get used to it soon." He hefted the drum on his thigh and resumed his march towards the lorry which will take our instruments to the airport.

Now that I think of it, I have never flown in a plane before. New experiences come every day... See how my thoughts have nothing to do with the current conversation I was having with the boy?

He seemed to notice and thus asked a question with a slight smirk.

"Anyway Suzushina-san you are really close with Kano-san aren't you."

"Ehhh?! Where did you get that idea?!"

"Well," he tilted his head. "Everyone sees you two together most of the time and you two are on a first-name basis too. Are you dating or anything?"

"Hell no." I shot him down.

"Huh. Fascinating."

Fascinating? What a way to describe my reply.

We arrived at the pickup point and he left the drum for the other percussionists to carry.

"Suzu-chan!" A voice called me from the bus parked beside the lorry. Her pink hair was tied into a bun, a first for me, and she wore a pair of pink spectacles. It was Arisa.

"Ah bye Suzushina-san. Thanks for helping." The boy said as he ran back to the music room to grab even more instruments. As I said, it's kinda sad to be a percussionist.

"Mm. Bye." I replied but he was already gone.

Arisa tapped her foot in impatience as I had stood there for a while without moving towards her.

"Hehe. Sorry Arisa-chan."

"Nah it's fine. Getting to know your other band members?" She grinned.

It's always been a point for her to get me to socialize with the other band members apart from scolding them.

"More of him asking me questions while I helped him carry a few drum sticks... Eh?"

Suddenly, I realized I was still holding those drum sticks. I had completely forgotten to pass them to the other percussionists when I passed them.

Arisa burst out laughing.

"Ah shit. Be right back!"

"Hahahahahaha! Okay... Haha... Go! Hahahahahaha. I can't... Haha believe you... Hahahahahaha... Were holding those all that time..."

I shot her a glare which she shrugged off and passed the sticks to a nearby band member on packing duty.

This was going to be a loooong trip.

* * *

The airport. It was a noisy, bustling place where people moved around quickly with all kinds of bags and clothes. Tourists spoke in weird foreign languages and some looked rather weird as well. The strong air-conditioning was so near yet so far as we were gathered right outside the entrance and were separated from the cool air by a glass wall.

"Hey," The girl next to me tapped my shoulder. "Stop staring at them. You may piss one of them off."

"Mmm..." I raised an eyebrow.

"Hmm?" She raised one as well.

"Who are you?"

Facepalming, she mumbled her reply. "What a way to greet someone... And how do you not know me?"

"Well, I haven't seen you before..." I racked my brain and tried to recall anyone with brown hair and purple eyes.

Contrary to my expectations, her face lit up. "Since you don't know me, let's get to know each other. I'm Natsuki Nakagawa." She smiled and tapped my nose.

"Uhh..." I was taken aback by her reaction. The only person who acted remotely like that was Haimura.

"Hmm?"

"My... Uh... Name is Suzushina Yuriko."

"Hehe. Who knew that the 'Tyrannical junior' was actually so cute!" She ruffled my hair and put her hands on my shoulders.

For some reason, I didn't feel like attacking her like I normally would. If it was someone else doing it, I had no doubt they would be endowed with a black eye or worse. Natsuki however, somehow made me feel comfortable.

Arisa and Shutaura finally exited the bus and waved it off. It's about time. We have spent a good five minutes waiting for them to finish up with some paperwork.

"Okay!" Shutaura stood in front of our large group of students. "We are now leaving for Nagasaki. It will be a rather short flight. But thanks to our 'efficient' packing crew," she glared at the group of boys who were on packing duty earlier. They had slacked off and resulted in a thirty minute delay. "We barely made it on time. So I want you guys to be fast and move efficiently alright? All our instruments are being packed on the plane and we are the last ones to board so hurry up!"

The group started moving reluctantly but quickly. As if the sudden burst of energy was from fear of Shutaura giving out punishment instead of genuinely wanting to go.

Natsuki pushed me from behind. "It's alright Suzu-chan." It's amazing how she has already gotten used to abbreviating my name. "Most of the people here are nice once you get to know them."

"Hai..."

If the awkward glances were anything to go by, it would be a long time till they started to accept me. Especially the seniors.

That's a plane?!

Natsuki noticed my gaping maw and laughed. "Yeah. First time sitting on one? Good thing for you it's in the country."

"Is it bad?" I asked. I have never gone on a flight before and now, more than ever, I was starting to get nervous.

She waved me off and tapped me on the forehead. "It's fine. Nothing to worry about. It's actually kind of boring after the first few minutes."

"Hmm that's good."

My phone buzzed.

"You better check that before we go. Can't use phones on the plane." She smiled and stretched her back. "Ughh... I hate early mornings."

Ignoring her, I opened up the message and saw that it was from the group. A picture of Haimura, Touma, Fukiyose, Tsuchimikado, and the twins together in a group shot smiling and in Touma and Fukiyose's case, strangling each other.

There was a caption under the picture saying; 'Have a fun trip! Sorry but we couldn't wake up in time to see you off at the airport. \^,^/'

"Heh. I see you have friends too." Natsuki peered over my shoulder and read the message.

"Ehhhh?! Invasion of privacy!" I shut off my phone screen and shoved Natsuki's face away.

"Hahahaha! Its fine. I won't spread to everyone that your boyfriend sent you a cute little message."

"Alright!" Arisa called for the band's attention. "Now that we are all here. Make your way through the checkpoint in pairs and switch off you phones before you get on."

The airport personnel standing beside her nodded in approval.

"Okay! Do not make trouble and enjoy yourselves!"

I stood still and watched as the people around me quickly gathered into pairs and moved forward. Those who I knew, Arisa, Shutaura, the other two flautists from my section and the percussionist from earlier had already gotten a partner and were already passing through the checkpoint.

"Hey. You really are hopeless aren't you." Natsuki appeared beside me.

"Eh? Didn't you go off with your partner already?"

She puffed out her cheeks.

"Don't say it like that. I have friends."

"Then why did you wait for me?" I asked with suspicion clearly showing.

"You looked kinda sad ya know?"

My eyes widened. Apart from Haimura, no one had ever come towards me with a pure intention like that.

"And you didn't seem to have any friends hehe. I hope that didn't come off as rude."

"Nah. It's fine. I really don't have many friends apart from Haimura."

A smirk graced her lips. "First-name basis eh? That's cute."

~~~~~~~~Haimura~~~~~~~~~

Tsukuyomi sensei was scolding Touma again... I looked out the window and noticed a pair of swallows flying around each other.

Hmm. That's kinda cute...

I moved my elbow before realizing that Yuriko wasn't here.

ARGHH... I scratched my head vigorously. It's so weird sitting alone. Three or so months ago, I would have been happily minding my own business, composing a simple song, drawing a waifu or sleeping. Now, it's felt unnatural to be alone. Yuriko had thoroughly embedded herself in my life.

I wonder how she's doing now though... She barely had any friends in the band yet. And from what I heard from Arisa, many of the seniors disliked her for her cold attitude. She hadn't replied to the messages I sent her earlier too.

Then my phone buzzed.

It was from Yuriko.

A picture of a purple eyed girl with brown hair holding back a blushing Yuriko to be exact.

It was followed by a message.

'Sorry... A friend did that. Thanks for the nice message guys... And how did you meet up with the twins?'

Hmm? A friend other than Arisa? That's good.

A flurry of messages came through.

Mikoto: 'Haha nice to see you have friends onee-chan!'

Misaka: 'Add her to the group.'

Yuriko: 'YOU STILL HAVEN'T TOLD ME HOW YOU MET UP WITH HAIMURA AND THE REST!'

I heard a snigger come from behind me. Fukiyose was watching the chat as well.

Tsuchi: 'They were here for the Ichiranasai. Some preparation thingies for the festival.'

Yuriko: 'Huh? What does Tokiwadai have to do with our school?'

Fukiyose: 'I am not too sure but there are plans for the weaker students from there to have an affiliation with our school. It's supposed to help bring up the standard of our school.'

Yuriko: 'I have a feeling Tsukuyomi sensei will be pissed.'

Heh. She was right on. Earlier, Tsukuyomi sensei was raging about the education system being biased and the very reason for this affliation was for the principal's selfish gains. The amount of flames that had come from her were not just 'flames' it was a blazing inferno.

But thanks to Touma harassing Fukiyose, she had a reason to calm down and nag him like an old grandmother.

Yuriko: 'Okay I gotta go. Bye.'

Smiling, I punched in a reply.

'See you.'

Sighing, I tore out a fresh piece of foolscap. Twirling my pen in my hand, I considered either composing a new song or drawing.

"Promise me you will stop disrupting the lesson okay? Kamijou-chan?" Tsukuyomi sensei's scolding was finishing up. I won't have time to compose anymore.

Recalling an image of Yuriko in my mind, I started to draw. Maybe I'll give it to her later as a present.

~~~~~~~~~~Yuriko~~~~~~~~~

Smiling to myself, I closed my eyes and leaned back onto the plush chair.

"All passengers. This is your captain speaking. We will be moving off in a short while. Please shut off all electronic equipment immediately. Thank you for your kind cooperation."

"Ahhh it's time. Prepare yourself Suzushina-chan! The first time is always the most exciting." Natsuki pressed her face to mine and smiled. "Don't worry. You'll be back with your boyfriend sooner or later."

"Ehhhh... Why does everyone say things like that?" I muttered and pushed her away.

"Hmm? Isn't he your boyfriend?" She asked innocently.

I shook my head both to deny her question and hide my reddening cheeks.

"No... We aren't."

"We aren't YET, you mean." She corrected and tapped my nose.

Then the plane started to move.

It felt no different from sitting on a car. Maybe because the plane was being pulled, pretty much, by a car. Or a truck. Screw details. I can't even see much from the window seat that Natsuki had so kindly gave me.

"It's boring now but once we reach the runway... Hehehehe." She mumbled and smirked.

Looking out the window, I noticed that the sun was already halfway up in the sky, illuminating the flat land with its glorious light.

The grass was a bright fresh green in contrast to the clear blue sky. Other planes took off and pierced through the clouds like giant birds while others landed with surprising grace for something so massive.

Our plane had aligned itself along a runway and was starting it's engines.

The sound of the truly gigantic engines on the wings were barely audible in the cabin but were clearly audible when I pressed my ear on the window.

Small vibrations ran though the plane and we moved forward, gradually getting faster and faster, the outside view becoming a blurry mess.

And suddenly...

The vibrations disappeared and a sense of weightlessness took over. We were pressed back slightly on our seats and after a few minutes of climbing, the plane reached cruising altitude and levelled out.

"Hehe. We're in the air." Natsuki winked and placed her hand on my forehead. "You okay? You look paler than normal."

I sweatdropped and swatted her hand away.

"I'm fine. It's just a new experience." I resumed looking out the window.

The clouds looked so soft. No wonder they are a source of wonder for people around the world.

* * *

"Suzushina-san! How was it? Were you okay with Nakagawa-san?" Arisa asked me, swaying along with the movements of the bus.

After getting off the plane, we had shuffled around and got on a bus to bring us to our lodgings which would be rather far away. Currently, we were climbing up a hill.

"Mm! She's nice and has helped me a lot." I said happily. Well, my tone was happy. I wasn't sure what to describe my tone with.

Relief evident on her face, she sighed and nodded. "Okay. That's good to hear. If you need help be sure to call alright?"

I smiled and gave her a thumbs up.

"Ohhh? Good friends with Arisa-chan hmm?" Natsuki' head appeared from the seat behind me.

"Oh my god. Don't scare me like that!"

"Natsuki! Don't do that!" The girl sitting beside me squealed.

She was a friend of Natsuki and was from the trumpet section.

Her name is Yuuko Yoshikawa. Her dirty blond hair came down slightly below her shoulders and she wore a large ribbon on her forehead. And she looked like a first year despite being a second year like me. When Natsuki first introduced me to her friends, I had adamantly refused to believe she was the same age as me.

As I was sitting in the second last row with Yuuko, two more of Natsuki's friends, Mizore Yoroizuka from woodwinds and Nozomi Kasaki from my flute section whom I was ashamed to admit to that I didn't even know her name let alone remembered her face sat behind us in the last row.

With some teasing and laughs, we had managed to get along rather well after the extremely awkward first meeting and became fast acquaintances.

"Hai hai!" Natsuki managed to reply before getting pulled back into her seat by Nozomi.

"Sorry for her behavior. She normally isn't like this but she's rather hyper today." Nozomi whispered to me embarrassedly.

"Nah it's fine. The friends I have are idiots as well." I replied cheerfully while my mind drew up pictures of Touma and Tsuchimikado and placed them beside monkeys.

"Including your boyfriend hmm?" Natsuki reappeared and boisterously pried into our conversation.

Four pairs of eyes focused on me.

"Suzushina-san..." Yuuko started.

"You have a..." The black haired Nozomi continued.

"Boyfriend?" The normally silent Mizore finished.

Proud with what she accomplished, Natsuki closed her eyes and leaned back with a grin plastered on her face.

"Suzushina-san. That's what you get when you talk bad about others." She finished smugly.

~~~~~~~~Haimura~~~~~~~~~

*Sneeze* Damn… Another bout of sneezes.

"Hmm? Again?" Fukiyose grinned suspiciously.

"I blame the pepper."

"Meh meh."

Another waft of air came from the kitchen. The smell was amazing.

"Oi Kano-dono! What do ya want?"

"Eh..? Oh... Uh... Same as what you're getting I guess."

"Okay then."

Touma, Fukiyose, Tsuchimikado, Index, Maika and I were at the same ramen store Yuriko and I had been four days ago for dinner. Except that this time it was for lunch. Normally, I would have no problems. But today, embarrassing memories from that day bombarded my mind.

Saya and Tou better not tell them about Yuriko...

"OI!" Tsuchimikado shouted from the counter. "KANO! YOU DIDN'T TELL US YOU BROUGHT YOUR GIRLFRIEND HERE BEFORE!"

I felt sympathy come from Fukiyose for a second before it became amusement.

Before I knew it, I was hammered with questions from Touma and Maika. Eventually, even Fukiyose and Saya (who abandoned her job and left Tou alone) joined in the madness.

Am I ever going to be able to eat in peace?

~~~~~~~~~Yuriko~~~~~~~~~~

Achoooo!

Yuuko passed me a tissue.

"Are you okay?"

"Mm! I think..." *Sneeze* "someone's talking about me..." *Multiple sneezes*

"Sounds more like a group of people is the number of sneezes are anything to go by." Nozomi joined in the conversation.

Natsuki and Mizore were silently taking a nap. After the excitement from annoying me, they had gotten tired and fallen asleep.

"Anyway, why is the bus stopping for so long?" I asked and popped my head over the seat in front of me.

"Most likely dealing with paper work or something with our lodging and our instruments." Nozomi guessed.

And guessed correctly at that.

"Yeap." Arisa appeared seemingly out of nowhere. "The owners hadn't expected so many instruments and we may have to relocate."

"Huh. That's troublesome." I scratched my head. "Will it take a while?"

"Mmm... Shutaura is trying her best but I think we really may have to relocate to a hotel... Which the school will not be happy about."

"But why are we doing this now though? Its the middle of the term."

Arisa sweatdropped.

"It was actually Kano-san's indirect doing. He had said that the Nagasaki settlement festival was featuring several good wind ensembles..." Arisa took a deep breath. "And when our conductor heard it... She researched a bit and foind out that a famous conductor would be here and wanted the band to come for a masterclass and a short performance."

Eh? Performance?!

"Eh? Performance?!" Nozomi voiced my thoughts.

"Mm. Just one or two songs. There will be a lot of bands after all. The masterclass will be tomorrow night and the performance on the day after. After the performance, we should be able to pack up and go back to Tokyo by nightfall."

"This... Was horribly planned wasn't it?"

"Well..." I could literally see the gears in Arisa's mind spinning rapidly to find an excuse to defend her conductor's actions. "Nah I can't defend her. This was too horribly planned."

Shutaura's loud, official sounding voice came through the bus's sound system. She was probably using a mic or something.

"We will be going to a hotel near the place the festival will be held. Take a nap. This will take a while."

"Okay! I gotta go. See you!" Arisa waved goodbye and shuffled her way back to her seat.

"Well, it's nap time." Yuuko started and whipped an eye mask from her bag.

"You should sleep too, Suzushina-san." Nozomi passed me some advice and leaned on Natsuki's sleeping form.

Hmm. Nap time it is.

-/-

Everything was dark.

Muffled explosions came from all around me.

Raising my right hand, I noticed I could see it but everything else was black. Even the floor was pitch black.

Slowly, the muffled sound became clear, piercing even. As my hearing became clear, so did my sight. The darkness slowly unravelling and revealing large rolling hills, covered with rice paddies and peppered with burning hunks of metal. Most were the shape of large praying mantises while the remainder were either humanoid or a box.

A tank.

Wait a minute... This looked familiar...

In the distance, a massive floating fortress fired missiles, bullets and dropped bombs on an even larger white beetle.

Yes. I know this.

This is where Reina died.

Loud rumbling came from beside me and I watched helplessly as a single tank rolled towards me, tailed by a flurry of glowing yellow streaks.

"NO!" I screamed and tried to activate my power.

This time, I will change things. I will not watch helplessly as she dies.

"REINAAA!" Giant white wings sprouted from my back and I launched myself in front of the tank...

But the rounds were not reflected by my power like it should have.

One by one, they pierced my wings and each one felt like a nail was being hammered into my body. One went through my shoulder, severing it from my body. Another went through my torso. I stared at the gaping hole which I once called my stomach.

Somehow, I felt no pain. It was just... Numb.

I turned my neck and saw that all the rounds that had tore through me had penetrated the tank behind me.

"Suzushina-san..."

An empty space existed in the armor where a driver should have sat. And in that seat a girl with short brown hair was covered with blood, her lower body nonexistent.

Then the pain from my wounds came rushing towards me all at once.

It was unbearable. I felt as if I should have died several times over but I was still alive. Very alive. The angelic white wings on my back turned black. What was once white feathers were now static-like lines. Like something a child would have scribbled on a tiny piece of paper.

My wings stretched out. Even more pain went through my body. This time not from my wounds but from my spine.

"Suzushina-san!" My body shook.

The wings reached incredible lengths. Over a kilometer long each.

"ARGHHHHHHH!"

Then the wings closed in on the flying fortress. Like a wolf spider attacking it's prey, they reached forward with the intent to grab, hold and tear.

"Suzushina-san! Suzu-chan! YURIKO!"

White light bombarded my eyes.

"Uuuuuuuuuuuuuu..." I used an arm to shield my eyes from the glaring light.

"Yuriko... You worried us back there..." Natsuki's worried voice sounded like it was on the verge of tears.

"Ah?" My hand touched my face and I realized that my cheeks were covered with tears. I also noticed that the floor was cold an

"You had us panicking back there! What happened?!" Arisa pushed Natsuki aside and appeared next to me.

"You were spasming in your sleep and screaming." Nozomi added in a quiet voice.

Looking at all their faces, they seemed far more afraid than worried.

"I'm sorry... It was a bad dream... Of sorts." I used my arms to push myself into a sitting position. "Where are we?"

The area around me was most definitely not the bus. The floor I was lying on was cold marble but there was an expensive looking carpet beside me. The bed was two times larger than mine at home and was illuminated by sunlight from a large window.

"Ah. We're in the hotel where we will we be staying in for the next two days."

"Eh? The bus?"

"When we arrived, which was two hours ago, you were mumbling things in your sleep and had a cold sweat so we carried you up here." Yuuko explained. "After leaving you to sleep for a while, the rest went for a short adventure around the area. Shutaura gave them a few hours to play. Natsuki, Nozomi, Mizore and I stayed behind to watch you."

"And when you started screaming and yelling in your sleep, we called Arisa-san back." Mizore added.

"Huh..." I scratched my head. "I caused a lot of trouble didn't I?"

Arisa smiled and wiped off some sweat from her brow. "Don't worry Suzushina-san. We-"

"ARISA! WE'RE BACK!" Shutaura interrupted from outside the room. "IS SHE OKAY?"

"Ahhh... She's back. I gotta go help organize the others. Sorry Suzu-chan."

I waved her off. "It's fine. I have Nakagawa-san."

Said girl turned bright red as her three friends looked at her and smirked.

"Alright then. See you!" Arisa hopped out of the room in a Brand New Bright Step.

The door lock clicked.

"SUZUSHINA-SAN! I WAS SOOOO WORRIED!" Natsuki embraced me in a hug.

"!"

The three other girls also joined in, pinning me under the human pile of crying girls, tears, sweat and some snot. Good thing I was used to my sisters doing things like this as well.

"Ughhhh... Can't... Breathe..."

"Oh shit! Sorry!" The simultaneously let go of me and helped me onto the bed.

"Are you okay? You were in really bad shape..." The purple eyed girl inquired.

"Mmhmm! I'm fine now. It's was just a bad dream."

"Didn't sound and look like one." Yuuko replied softly. "You were screaming and twisting your body as if you were being stabbed or something."

Stabbed...

The word brought back images of the dream. The hole in my body and my severed arm.

Breaking out into a cold sweat, I started hyperventilating.

"Suzushina-san?!" Natsuki held my arms and shook me but I barely felt it.

The images of that day suddenly returned.

I had thought they had disappeared, that I had recovered from it... Albiet slightly. Those dreams had come to me before but that was only during the time immediately after Reina's death. After that day with Haimura, the nightmares had ceased to exist and when they did reappear, they lacked the vividness of this one.

The voices around me become shallow and muffled. A bit like listening to someone talking to you while your ears were underwater.

~~~~~Natsuki Nakagawa~~~~~~

Shit... She was acting up again.

I glared at Yuuko who raised her arms and gave me a panicked look before running out the room. She probably had said something to trigger Yuriko to get some flashback. Nozomi and Mizore were nowhere to be seen.

Yuriko screamed silently and clutched her midsection in pain.

Grabbing her arms, I shook her and placed my forehead on hers.

"Shhhh..."

Her breathing slowed slightly. Taking it as a good sign, I kept it up till she calmed down.

When she was calm, I have to admit that she is recall pretty. Even as a girl, I found her pretty. I wonder what could have happened to make her like this. The crutch was understandable but her nightmares seemed more like a sign of PTSD than a normal dream.

"Uuuuuuuuu... Naka... Gawa-san?"

Her soft voice was like a calm in the storm.

"Mm... Are you... Okay? You kinda acted up a bit again."

"Mmm. I'm fine... And... Sorry..."

Her red eyes watered and her lip twitched. Which was really cute.

"Heh. If you're fine now then let's go for a bath!" Making her calm down would be the best thing I guess. If she calms down enough maybe I can help her.

"Huh? Eh? Nakagawa-san?!" Her voice slowly gained confidence as I pulled her to the door and half carried her on my back.

"Don't worry! There's a nice hot bath downstairs. Nozomi and Mizore went down earlier."

"Ehhh?! My crutch?!"

"You'll be fine!"

* * *

"Heh. You're pretty cute."

Yuriko held up an arm to cover her chest.

"Stop... Looking at me... Its embarrassing..."

I continued to stare at her naked body despite nearly getting whacked earlier. Luckily for me, when she is in the bath without her crutch, she practically immobile and can't attack.

"Hmm? But I'm not touching or anything." I continued to tease her. "Unless... You wanna see mine too."

Her face flushed red and she folded her arms.

"Don't look... I know... small..."

"Hmm? I didn't catch that."

Grinning, I moved closer to her but only just out of reach of her arms. They may look thin and frail but a single hit felt like a punch from a boxer.

"Why are you teasing me!" She squealed... Cutely.

Oh my god... My heart... Her reddish cheeks, slightly turned head, beautiful eyes facing slightly downward towards her folded arms... Her cute factor is simply... Unrivalled.

That Haimura guy is really lucky.

~~~~~~~~~Haimura~~~~~~~~

Hmm... I hope she's doing fine... *Sneeze*

"Eh? Kano-dono another sneeze attack? A lot of people are talking about you today."

"No Tsuchi, it's just one person thinking of him... Hehehehe" Touma corrected with a smirk.

Looking to Fukiyose, I nodded.

Touma received a new bruise.

*Sneeze*

~~~~~~~~~Natsuki~~~~~~~~~

"Aww come on Suzu-chan. It's fine! Girls do it all the-"

"No..."

She voice suddenly lost all its shaky cuteness.

"Suzushina-san? Are you okay?"

"No..."

A droplet of water fell from her head. Probably a tear. Moving towards her, it became more and more clear to me that she was crying. Did I tease her too much?

"Ahhh... Suzushina-san... I'm sorry"

"Eh? No no... Its not..." She rubbed her eyes. "I'm fine... I thought I got over it but I still haven't..."

"It?"

I tilted my head and swam beside her. Tentatively, I stretched my right arm over her shoulder. Sensing no threat, I moved closer to her and held her close.

"You can tell me ya know? I won't laugh. It's better to get it off your chest."

I didn't have a hard life, let alone been traumatized so I wasn't sure how to help her. But I wanted to help and that is all that matters.

"You're a lot like my sister... I guess..."

"Huh? Your... Sister?"

"Mmm." Yuriko nodded.

"Is she in the school?"

She shook her head.

"Graduated?"

"No... She's... Dead."

Suddenly, the hot bath felt cold. The water around us seemed to lose all its heat. Even the potted plants nearby seemed to droop their leaves.

"Ahahaha... I'm sorry... This is supposed to be a holiday isn't it? We should enjoy ourselves!" Yuriko suddenly caught herself and grinned.

But it felt really forced. Compared to earlier this morning on the plane, her smile looked pained.

"No... Don't force yourself."

"Eh?"

"If you are crying, there's a good reason. And I heard that sharing your problems can help fix them. So tell me. I know we just met and all but you can trust me."

Her red eyes met mine. She really is pretty.

'ARE YOU TRYING TO BECOME A LESBIAN!?' My inner voice screamed.

Then Yuriko did the most unexpected thing.

She placed her forehead on my chest and quivered.

"I'm sorry for ruining your day... Nakagawa-san..."

"You can call me Natsuki you know? It's shorter."

"Ah sorry..."

"Stop saying sorry. You're not doing anything wrong."

Her quivering stopped. 'Shit' I thought to myself. I probably struck a chord with that sentence. Hopefully it wasn't a bad one.

"Hn! You're right. He wouldn't want me to keep it to myself." A small but genuine smile gracing her lips.

"He?"

"Uh."

Her head released a good amount of steam.

"Nahh. I'm just messin' with ya. I know who you're referring to."

More steam was released.

"A-anyway, why don't you let out what's keeping you down. It helps a lot you know?

Yuriko seemed to consider something before nodding.

"You remember the thing a few weeks back? When Academy City had a coup attempt?"

Sure I did! It was all over the news. Academy City had tried to attack Tokyo so the JSDF was mobilized... Only to get their asses handed to them on a plate. But thankfully for them, some army of white insects had saved them along with a legitimate angel, white and black wings sprouting from its back had destroyed the City's mobile fortress.

A video featuring the angel launching itself at the mobile fortress had been captured and put up online but everyone that had seen it in person, even the person who took the video, had lost all memories of even seeing the events that unfolded. That caused many to believe that the video was a hoax. Even soldiers that had been there were interviewed but they only could remember fighting Academy City robots. Nothing about an angel.

~~~~~~~~Forest Cabin~~~~~~~

"Good job wiping their memories Aleister."

A white boy waved while munching on some chips.

"Nahh it's fine. I left a few alone though..."

Aleister raised an eyebrow at his lazy behavior.

"Hmm? Who?"

"The Accelerator-"

"You mean Yuriko." The boy corrected.

"Yeah. Her and her boyfriend, her sisters... And that's about it."

"So only they remember the Wings?"

"Mm. The rest remember the robots. And that the beetle destroyed the Five Over. The Wings are nothing more than an urban legend now."

The boy grinned and evaporated, his body reappearing as a beetle the size of a car behind the man.

"Thanks man." The beetle's wings vibrated, creating a voice-like sound climb on. We're gonna make you a house."

*Sneeze*

"Oh god damn you Aleister. Don't sneeze on my exoskeleton." The beetle complained as several drops of saliva dropped on its shell.

"Not my fault. Someone was talking about me."

~~~~~~~~~Natsuki~~~~~~~~~

Yuriko submerged her chin underwater.

"My sister died during the defense."

I covered my gaping maw. Now I feel bad about saying the JSDF got their ass handed to them.

"Oh my god... I'm sorry..."

She smiled. "Nahh it's fine... I saw her die... So I used to keep having dreams like that but after a while... They kinda went away."

"Oh... How did she die?"

I received a piercing glare.

"Eh... Hehehe... Sorry, that wasn't nice of me." I scratched my neck.

"Mm. Its fine. But I don't really wanna talk about that..."

"That's fine..." I was rather embarrassed. All this was rather dark and I couldn't imagine what Yuriko was going through... And how much strength she needed to keep herself positive.

"Well, I have a feeling that Haimura guy helped you pull through the initial nightmares."

She nodded.

Hmm… He must be an amazing guy… I mused to myself. Yuriko was equally lucky to have a caring boyfriend like that.

"Err… I know I am not a good replacement for him… But you have me and Arisa-chan here so if you need any help or needa talk to someone, don't hestitate."

Her breathing stopped her a second and she embraced me tightly.

"Thanks Natsuki!"

Yuriko beamed up to me like a little sister.

"Ehhh?!"

"Talking about it really helped." As she hugged me, our naked bodies touched in all sorts of inappropriate places.

"Ah... Umm... Yuriko..."

"Hmm?"

"You're..." I gestured towards our chests.

"..."

The hotel restaurant was nothing less than extravagant. With red silk lining the walls and embroidered tablecloths. The moment Yuriko and I stepped in, we were greeted as if we were royalty by the waiters.

"Hmm? How was your bath?" Arisa waved us over to her table. They were having some of the cheapest things here I noticed. Just drinks.

"It was great!" I ran over and ruffled her hair getting a glare from Shutaura in the process. "Shutaura... Don't need to be jealous."

"I am not!" She folded her arms indignantly and pouted. "I am her sister after all..."

Eh? Sister?!

"You two are sisters?!" The entire band... Well, those who here listening to our conversation at least, shouted in surprise.

"Eh? Yeah..?" They both stared at me deadpan. I was to blame after all.

"Anyway, Nakagawa-san..." Arisa tried to tell me something but was drowned out by the other girls.

Shutaura gave a single glare to each of the band members who were hounding Arisa for questions about when they became sisters, silencing them instantly. I swear, that girl was from some kind of special forces or something.

"As I was saying, we were waiting for you two. I had explained Yuriko's... Situation so we decided to wait before going."

"What were you waiting for us for?" Yuriko asked from behind me.

"Since the masterclass is tomorrow, we have the entire night to ourselves!" Her grin grew bigger. Her enthusiasm spreading to the rest of the band. They looked at each other, realizing what Arisa was implying.

"Enjoy yourselves in the festival!"

"Oi! Wait up!"

This damn... Hill...

Nozomi, Yuuko and even nice, sweet Mizore had left me here behind. I glared at their silhouettes that were disappearing over the top of the hill. I heard the noisy buzz over people talking and cheering from over the hill.

"Natsuki... You don't have to do this you know?" A concerned voice came from beside my ear.

The hill was situated between the urban area where the hotel was and the suburban area where the festival was being held.

And this damn hill is big.

It had one road cutting though the forest growing on it and there were no street lamps. Luckily for me, it was still evening and I could generally see everything around me. Imagine if it was night. Heck. I wouldn't even dare to attempt climbing it.

"I can make it up on my own Natsuki... Go along and enjoy yourself." Yuriko told me again.

"Well, if I don't... Do this... How are you going to get up this hill?"

"I have my crutch."

"You'll fall easily. How am I going to explain any injury to Haimura?"

"Uuuuuuuuuuuuuu... Shut it."

Heh. It was really cute to see her get flustered. Yuriko has this aura of invulnerability that puts people off. But when you get to know her, you realize that she is really nice. Albiet slightly... Awkward and tsundere.

"Tsundere."

"Oi! I said shut it didn't I?!"

She flailed her arms, making me almost lose my balance.

"Yuriko! Stop it!"

"No! You stop saying things like that! Eh?"

Her soft hits on my shoulders suddenly stopped.

"Is that... Light?" She pointed towards the tip of the hill. The sun had set rather quickly and it was getting dark. But that mean that I could see the glow from the buildings over on the other side of the hill. Realizing that the celebrations were just ahead, I managed a sudden burst of energy and forced myself up the hill.

"Yeah! It is! Let's go!"

"Mm!"

~~~~~~~~~Yuriko~~~~~~~~~~

"Alright. Lights out. Time to sleep."

Natsuki plopped facedown on her bed and fell asleep almost instantly, legs still on the ground, forcing Nozomi to take off her shoes and move her onto the bed.

"Mm." Mizore nodded at me.

No, I did not know what she meant by that but I nodded in return. Which seemed to satisfy her as she turned and plopped onto her bed as well.

"Yuriko. Are you okay?" Nozomi was like the bug sister of the four of us. Apart from Natsuki who acted like Reina, she was a more mellowed out older sister character. After Natsuki explained my earlier situation with them, it was Nozomi's approval that really opened the gateway that allowed me to make friends with all four of the girls.

"Yeah. Thanks for today too."

"Nah. It was nothing. I hope you enjoyed yourself."

"Mm! I did!"

"That's all that matters. Now go to sleep."

Smiling, I slowly set myself down on my bed and placed my crutch within arm's reach.

"Night." I said loudly so everyone could hear.

"Night." "Goodnight." *Snore*

Laughing to myself, I took out my phone and started typing into my diary. Heh. You guys haven't seen it in a while eh?

'Dear diary. Entry #18

Today I went to a festival (The Nagasaki Settlement Festival), with four new friends from the band.

Natsuki Nakagawa-san is a lot like Reina. Just less violet and cuter. Her breasts are much larger than mine though... Curves in all the right places too. I'm sure Tsuchi and Touma would be really interested. Though Tsuchi wouldn't be ready to commit since he's such a siscon and Touma has Fukiyose… I don't really worry about Haimura since he likes them small. She's also really nice and helped me out with my nightmares. To be honest, her resemblance to Reina really helped me blend in with the other girls here.'

I smiled to myself, happy with my description of Natsuki. Recently, since entry ten or so, I started writing as if I were talking to someone.

'Mizore Yoroizuka is really really quiet but she's hardworking and cute... That's all I have to say for her... I guess.

Nozomi Kasaki is like the stereotypical Onee-chan and is kinda stern sometimes, but when she gets hyper with Natsuki, they're unstoppable.

Yuuko Yoshikawa is also nice but she's kinda vain sometimes but I can tell she really cares about her friends. Especially Natsuki. Sadly, each room only has four beds and she's not here with me now. We really got along well too.

The festival was really nice. There was classical music from many cultures, eastern and western alike. It was a settlement festival after all. And there were a lot of nice foods from different countries. The decorations are also rather hard to explain as it's a huge mash-up of different countries and cultures all united as one.

We played a lot of games and they ate a lot. I didn't have much of an appetite though. We also found out that Shutaura is a goddess at shooting games. She won Arisa a stuffed bear by shooting an air rifle with one hand!'

I smiled at my entry. I really like this one...

*Snore*

I sweatdropped at Natsuki's loud snore. Tomorrow is going to be a whole new adventure and I'm looking forward to it. Haimura, I'm gonna show you that I can do just fine without you…

Though a little call wouldn't hurt.

"Nozomi..?"

"Hmm? Yuriko?"

Her voice sounds groggy. YES! A mini-me in my mind did a fist pump into the air. I have a higher chance of getting out.

"I gotta go to the toilet."

"Mm. Use the one in the room. Night."

Eh? Oh SHIT! I forgot that hotel rooms have toilets. The same mini-me that did the fist pump slapped me when I remembered I had just taken a bath in that same toilet.

Making sure the door was locked, I covered the toilet seat and whipped out my phone.

~~~~~~~~~Haimura~~~~~~~~

Hmm... This seems like it's missing something...

I put the ladel on my chin and stared down at the pot of curry. It had everything to be honest. Beef cubs, carrots, some other miscellaneous vegetables from the fridge that looked good and... It was missing something.

Ah!

"Potatoes... Potatoes... Uhh... Potatoes... Ow! Stupid drawer... Ah! Potatoes."

I quickly peeled and chopped them up before dumping them into the pot. A cloud of steam rose and fogged up my vision.

It's gonna be ten minutes before it's ready.

Walking towards the small window in the living room, noticed several blinking lights in the sky. Probably just planes.

I wonder how Yuriko is doing though... I hope she's fine...

*bzzt*

My phone?

Turning, I saw it on the edge of the kitchen table. Each vibration bringing it one step closer to dropping.

"OHHH SHIT!"

Time slowed as I leapt forward. I saw the phone fall off the counter and begin it's decent. My hands reached out, over the clutches of doom and catching it just before it hit the ground.

"My god… That was close."

The display showed Yuriko's name.

"Hello?"

"Haimura?"

Heh. It really is her. I sat on the counter top and swung my legs like a little kid. Talking to her in private always made me slightly nervous. I always felt like I must be on my best behavior and always teased her like a little boy and his crush. My face reddened as my mind thought of that analogy.

"Who do you think you're speaking to haha."

"Idiot. Is that how you respond to me?"

Good she's snarky as ever.

"How was your day?"

"It was fine… With a little hiccup. I made a few new friends though!"

"That's great! Introduce them to us sometime okay?"

"Mm!"

What did she mean by 'hiccup' though?

"What do you mean by 'hiccup'? Are you okay?"

"Now you're acting like a mom... Anyway, it was just one of those nightmares again."

Her already soft voice got softer. She must be calling me in the toilet. In secret. Its already twelve. Now, I don't wanna be an ass and get her to speak louder do I? I switched the phone to speaker mode and placed it on my ear. Now I could even hear her breathing.

"Nightmares? The ones about that day?"

"Mm…"

"Are you okay? You haven't had them for a while."

"Natsuki helped me get over them. She's really nice."

For some reason, I felt jealous. As if I had missed a really good bonding session with her.

"'Natsuki' Eh? Introduce us some time alright?"

"Sure…"

"And Yuriko."

"Yeah?"

"Don't sneak into the toilet to use the phone after curfew."

"!"

She hung up immediately.

"Ahhhhh… Its good to know that she's doing fine… But I really wish I could go… Though it make may her socialize less." I spoke to myself and sighed.

Shaking my head to get rid of those selfish thoughts, I got up and resumed my cooking.

Apparently, it's the start of the Ichiranasai planning days tomorrow and Fukiyose ordered me to bring some food since Touma had said he would bring rice and nothing else. Index must have left him on the brink of starvation again. That family had to sell their car and use the money to buy food for Index and even then, they were rarely able to fill her stomach. Once, Maika, Touma and I had teamed up and made an entire feast. Almost thirty kilograms of food had been consumed by Index alone.

Anyway, since it's the start of the planning days which would no doubt be a pain in the ass starts tomorrow, Fukiyose had decided to have a party to signify the beginning of the end.

My phone buzzed. I got a text from Yuriko.

'I forgot to tell you earlier, but I went to a festival here earlier. It was really fun but kinda boring.'

For those of you who don't know, that Yuriko speak for 'I wanna go to a festival with you.'.

Ah the curry is done.

Now to pack it up and go to sleep. Something tells me tomorrow is gonna be one hella boring day. Aside from the party of course. And I better give it my all. If Yuriko wants to go to a festival, I gotta help Fukiyose make a really great one.

* * *

A.N. Hihi its me again. Sorry for the late update. This chap actually got typed out on my phone a couple days back but i havent gotten the time to put it up till now... so yeah! School is a pain as usual. Can't update like i did in the beginning becos back then, it was a school holiday.

MarkJ:Thanks for the compliment *hug* I hope this one is okay too!

I wanted to make this one the first of a two part that will show Yuriko making friends apart from Haimura and co. Ya know, the main part of this story is my take on something the real Accel couldnt do - make friends. (TBH i have no friends to speak of apart from a select few[5] so im pretty much the same as yuriko here haha) And some parts may be undesirable, or not really well done, but i couldnt find much probs cos it flowed okay for me but im sure someone who reads it will notice if anything is wrong so feel free to drop a comment to enlighten me. XD

The next one will be darker, a bit like a prelude to a problem that will certainly arise (its just backstory for a new OC thats not really gonna take centre stage that will help with a certain woman that has to do with a certain element[s]... kinda like Maho. Important, kind of but not centre stage) to be honest, i dunno what to classify this story anymore. its to aru, but theres so many other worlds meshed in... i guess i read a bit too much "Latias's Journey" by Ri2. the guy is a master of combining worlds read it when you can. Its amazing.

I also realized that for most of the books im reading, they are written in 3rd person... which is bad since im writing in 1st. ah well. after this fic(long time to go ==) ill try writing one in kamachi senpai's 3rd person style... or maybe ill do it for the next chapter. who knows? haha

As usual, THANKS FOR READING AND THANKS TO ALL WHO FAVVED THE STORY! I LOVE U!


	20. Chapter 19

A.N. Sorry about some vulgar language in this one hehe... There's a single OC, Iwao Ikezawa. The other side characters are actually part of TAMNI. If you were reading the novels carefully, you may notice their names. Hope u like it =D

Chapter 19

This rain... It's fucking irritating.

Wiping off another film of fog from my visor, I finally gave up and took off my helmet. The bloody thing can go to hell. I'd rather get hit in the head than endure breathing in that stuffy thing.

"Oi. Ikezawa. Put your damn helmet on." The Commander screamed into my earpiece.

Damn this sport. Sometimes, I hated it but it pays well so I can't just uppity leave right?

"Hai."

The rules of the game are simple.

Number one; Shoot your opponent.  
Number two; Don't get shot.

Aaaand that's about it.

All of us have to wear a composite hybrid synthetic suit of armor that was developed by Academy City. It had this amazing way of holding bullets in place just before they penetrated the body to show where exactly you are hit.

Well, it wasn't just one suit of armor. It was more of full body tights with tiny plates of carbon sewed on like fish scales. By the way, the carbon I'm speaking of is the same as the reinforced carbon that the Senshadou federation uses for their tanks. Over this fascinating armor is something a bit like a gel. This gel is only a centimeter thick but can hold bullets in place as if throwing a stick into a tar pit.

And the best thing about it was that it not only felt soft like human skin but was as tough as leather, only holding in place objects that were travelling over the speed of sound therefore keeping you from having leaves and shit sticking to you.

Pretty amazing stuff if you asked me.

That armor would cover our entire bodies, from above the boots which were normal steel toed boots over the bodysuit to our necks.

As for our faces, what protected it was a helmet that was more than just curved making it essentially look like a cool futuristic fishbowl made of titanium or something. The visor, its also really strong. Made of a transparent material supposedly able to withstand a 105mm rifle round and work as a HUD at the same time.

Teams were seperated into two or three with fifteen to fifty people each depending on the mode and the higher up's mood. When played in school, it was almost always elimination matches in small arenas but in professional matches, the matches could take hours. Sometimes days.

By using Senshadou arenas, the government had managed to effectively cut costs and use the arenas for more than one purpose. And get more revenue out of them.

There were several types of matches, ranging from the typical Elimination and Capture the Flag to the more complex ones like Escort or Infection. I bet you can guess what the objective of each game type was just by its name.

For this match, I was playing 'Defence'. My team on the offensive. Each team has forty players.

Oh I forgot to mention. In Kazoku, there were a few niche classes all of us had to choose from as beginners: Rifleman, the cannon fodder. Sniper, do I need to explain? Scout, scout. And Heavy, which basically meant that the player got to enjoy spamming away on a machine gun.

When I picked up Kazoku in school, I was assigned to the Sniper role but transferred to rifleman when I went pro. It's much simpler to do things as a rifleman. And my past experience as a sniper meant I was in high demand for high stakes games. Just go to the highest bidder and play. If I lost, I can just blame the team.

In that aspect, Kazoku is a little like football. Or soccer. Whatever you wanna call it.

Putting my helmet back on, the HUD sprang back to life and a mechanical voice gave me a reminder not to remove my helmet during a match. Why? Cos if you get hit, you die.

"Ikezawa. Get your head in the game and relocate. I want you on G-three. Nail anyone who pops out."

The annoying commander sent me on another suicide mission. Though G-three was not far from my current position on the map, G-five, G-three was essentially a single wooden shed half sticking out of the forest. The other half was in open sight and if anyone from the enemy hill spotted me, I'd be nailed instantly.

"Hai."

Well, at least I can move. Trudging through the muddy ground, I jumped over a rock and almost slipped thanks to the rain. For once, I was jealous of those Senshadou girls. They get to sit in a giant metal box all day. They can even put cushions in them. CUSHIONS!

Meanwhile, while I was thinking of cushions, the rain started pouring even more heavily, making it even more humid in my helmet. Those spectators can happily enjoy watching us in comfort as they munched on popcorn or whatever was the trend these days.

Hot sweat mixed with cold rain and mud. A horrible combination. It made you feel disgusting and cold at first before becoming sticky and even more disgusting when the rain stopped.

I stress my point. Those Senshadou girls have it good.

The ramshackle cabin came into view again. It never ceased to amaze me how the technology always remade the playing fields after matches, be they as Kazoku or Senshadou. After every match, there is sure to be felled trees, damaged buildings and the like. But every time I entered the playing field, it would consistently be the same. From the furnishings within each building to the bullet holes which once coated a rock, everything would be as if nothing had happened before. It was kinda surreal to be honest.

Imagine going into an apartment. Then now throw a grenade in. The grenade explodes and now, go back into the apartment. Everything is destroyed. Right? Now close the door and open it again. What you see is exactly the same from before you threw the grenade in. As if it didn't explode. Feels weird doesn't it?

I took up a hunched position behind a rock and used my rifle scope to scan the hill for enemies.

No movement.

Creeping forward, I made it a point not to touch any bushes or branches in case someone was watching. The black armor may be invisible when moving in the shadows but when one saw leaves rustling, they made it a point to completely fill the area with bullets.

Step... Breathe... Step... Breathe... Rinse and repeat.

Eventually, I reached the cabin. No enemy fire. Lucky me. The last time I played on this map, I was spotted almost instantly and taken out by machine gun fire.

With my heart pounding loudly in my chest, I slowly started to detach the door from its frame. Past experience has taught me that opening a door can move the leaf litter on the ground, making you known to enemy troops. If you picked up the entire door, the risk of detection was far lower.

Of course, it also depends on the map.

But luckily for me, this strategy works wonders on this map.

I took out a screwdriver from my bag, and slowly unscrewed each screw holding up each latch, catching the screws in my hand and placing them on the ground gently.

The rain started to slow. Not good.

With the risk of detection increasing by the second as the mask of rain slowly dissipated, I doubled my speed and removed the last screw. Catching the door as it fell, I placed it on a leaning position on the wall and moved in, scanning the room as I went.

All clear.

I tapped a button on the helmet to reconnect myself to the radio and notified the commander of my progress.

"I'm in the cabin. I have not been detected."

"Alright. Now wait there. The other team is preparing to rush in from E-seven. When they attack, the enemy will probably send troops to encircle the team from F-three. When they appear, eliminate them."

Heh. This was an unusual plan. Most commanders would just move forward from E-seven and send a secondary force from here. This commander had instead placed me here and was preparing another team to attack from A-one.

"I will send another group from A-one"

See? What did I tell ya?

"To take out the enemy. So you'd better take out at least four of them."

"Hai. Hai."

I removed my helmet and plugged in my earpiece so I could hear the ping which would signify the beginning of the assault.

"Ah... Fresh air. Now where's that little..."

I dug into my bag again and found a small box of sweets.

"Mm. Blueberry mint."

Savouring the taste in my mouth, I leaned on the wall and closed my eyes. Allowing my mind to wander.

Then some of my hair got sucked into my nose because of my heavy breathing.

*Cough* "Ah fuck. Annoying hair."

My long black hair hung down over the right side of my face. Going down to my shoulders, I was often mistaken for a girl when viewed from behind thanks to my slight build.

I heard footsteps coming from the door. I grabbed my rifle and pointed it at the doorway.

Sweat dripped from my temple but I held my position. If the guy was an enemy and came in guns blazing, my life was on the line. Not just my life in the match but my real life because my helmet was off. The only way I could protect myself for sure was to nail the guy before he fired a single shot.

After what seemed like hours, a rifle stock appeared from the side of the doorway and moved up and down three times. It was a signal that meant 'friendly'.

"Friend?" I whispered.

"C'mon Ikezawa. Wasn't the wave enough?"

I remembered the voice.

"Katika? That you?"

I lowered my rifle but was prepared to raise it again and fire in a split second if the visitor happened to be an enemy.

"How could you forget me? Idiot." A man wearing the same color armor as me came in. He looked identical to me apart from the weapon he held. Even though we were both riflemen, all of us professional Kazuku players own our own weapons. (We still have to keep them in training centres though. Can't bring them home.)

My rifle is the TAM-IDX Toy Soldier. A reliable weapon. Good range, didn't jam much, large magazine, fifteen rounds each. The only problem was that it had an autoloader. I couldn't physically cock the weapon and have to wait for it to reload before firing. This results in a guaranteed waiting time of two seconds before I can fire again.

Katika's weapon on the other hand, was the more common F2000r Toy Soldier. It was a bullpup assault rifle and worked far better at close range compared to mine.

"Commander send you here to cover my ass?"

"Mm. And remind you to put on your damn helmet." He picked it up and tossed it at me. "That picture's still in there?"

I caught the helmet and looked at the folded picture taped to the back of the inside of the helmet.

"Yeah it's still there."

"Heh. Faithful much. How many years?"

I couldn't see his face well because of the fog on his visor but I could tell he was smiling from the way he spoke.

"Six. Wait. You already know." I deadpanned

"Well, it never ceases to amaze me haha!"

Glaring at him, I turned my back to him and started cleaning my rifle. It best to keep semi-automatics clean. Doing drills with an M16 has taught me that even though a gun has a low jam rate, well, in the M16's case it was a high jam rate, there's still a chance that it would jam.

Unless you're using an AK47. Those monsters never jam.

"Fine. Be all petty about it. I'll be watching them from here."

Katika grabbed a chair from the middle of the room and carried it near the window facing the enemy base.

"Be careful." I reminded him. Once, he had sat there and was sniped in the face a good three seconds later.

"I know, I know. I won't be sitting in the line of fire."

"They can shoot through walls."

He angrily waved his hands and whispered. "Then why the hell are you here?!"

"Commanders orders."

He noticeably slumped his shoulders and gave me the finger before turning and aiming his Toy Soldier at the enemy base.

Satisfied that he was looking away, I stopped cleaning my rifle and carefully unfolded the picture in my helmet.

It was a picture of a young woman in her twenties with short light brown hair, a shark-like grin and light bags under her eyes. She wore a white tank top that was wet, revealing a white sports bra underneath and black cargo pants that were pulled up to her knees.

Beside her was another woman with slightly shorter darker brown hair with a serious face that sported a rarely seen smile. Wearing a white and grey striped singlet, she held a hose and pointed it at her friend who was already soaked to the bone in her white tank top.

In the background was a young man in a long sleeved T-shirt with long black hair covering half his face. He sat atop the turret of a black Tiger 1 tank bearing the famous Elite Panzer Arm symbol, simple silver crisscrossing lines with a single golden AP round encircled by golden leaves superimposed over the lines. The man held a large yellow sponge covered in white soap and was laughing at the two women.

I smiled at the picture.

It was taken four years ago during a short training exercise which comprised of the EPA and a few hundred professional Kazoku players. It was essentially something the JSDF did to help prove to their higher ups that the EPA and the Kazoku federation were combat ready despite us still being considered civilians and could be mobilized if required.

To most people, it was the first time males and females had performed in joint exercises due to Senshadou being a fully female thing and Kazoku a fully male thing that was rather uncommon due to it being played in select schools. Most mix gender schools only had airsoft but rich all boys schools had Kazoku. The school would rent small Senshadou arenas as trainings grounds which they would go for practice matches every week while the practiced aiming and maneuvers in school every day.

Luckily for me, I had met Suzushina Reina and Nishizumi Maho four years before that exercise. Making it eight years since I first met them.

It was during the holidays when a Senshadou exhibition match was held at the Main Stadium in Osaka. With the arena being ten thousand square kilometers large, it was by far the biggest in Japan. And the third in the world. To be honest, the government wanted it to be built in Tokyo or at least around it but due to land restrictions, it had been built in neighbouring Osaka instead.

The arena was large enough to have an entire shopping mall built into its walls. As well as hotels, racing car companies that used the arena as race track during down time, large establishments and more, there were more than a few weapons development facilities.

That was where I met them. They had been eating ice cream outside the weapons development facility that I often went to upgrade my rifle.

It was possible for a Kazoku member to withdraw his firearm from a holding facility but a ton of paperwork had to be filed and the weapon must be stored in a bomb-proof casing that could only be opened by a special electromagnetic signal that certified weapons companies that supplied weapons for Senshadou and Kazoku had. Especially for me since I was still a student at the time.

Luckily for me, I had nothing better to do so I spent my free time filling in paperwork to allow me to withdraw my rifle practically everyday to camp at my favourite facility, trying out different scopes, barrels... The works.

At around four in the afternoon, I had left the facility due to hunger and exhaustion due to dehydration after camping there for seven hours straight. And after leaving the facility, I realized that I did not have any money in my wallet because I had spent it all on a new stock for my F2000r.

Broke, tired and sleepy, I dropped my heavy ass unceremoniously on a bench and leaned back, ignoring the two girls that were sitting there enjoying their ice cream.

"Mm? Are you alright? You look dead tired." A calm steady voice asked cautiously.

"And your lips are cracked. You okay?" The second voice was louder and full of life. As if someone had taken all the lively things in the world and put it on a pan till all the moderately lively stuff was gone and only the concentrated happiness was left.

Maybe it was because of that voice that I cracked my eye open. Or maybe it was the fact that they actually asked me if I was alright. I will never know the real reason why they decided to open up to me. And why I opened up to them.

I had always been an introvert all my life. Not just because I was quiet. But because of burn marks all over the right side of my body.

When I was young, my father had tried to commit suicide by arson and set his home in fire when my m and I were in our room. When we realized what my father had done, it was too late. The fire had spread throughout the apartment and we couldn't get out. My mom had gone into the toilet and hugged me tightly while covered with a layer of wet towels.

However, the firefighters were so late that by the time they arrived, the wet cloths had already burnt up and my mother was more or less cooked.

By some miracle or prayer that my mom made, I had survived. Though with half my body burnt. Only the left side of my body which my mother held closest to her body was unharmed.

There never was a time where I felt ashamed of my scars. Heck, I used ignore the weird looks people gave me when they saw my half burnt face. My features were still there. My face had only suffered first degree burns after all. My arms and legs however, required skin grafts while my body could make do with bandages.

But it was because of my scars that I became more and more introverted. People wouldn't come near me or talk to me. Even the teachers told me that I should come to school in long sleeved shirts and bandage up my burns because several parents had complained I was scaring the children.

This went on all the way to highschool. Where I was mistaken to be a girl on my first day.

Because I didn't eat much, my body had become slim and because I lived in a poor, run down orphanage, I didn't eat much of the food. A large contributor to that was due to horrible taste of it.

I had also let my hair grow long. Allowing it to reach my shoulders and cover the right side of my face as I held up the other side with a hair pin.

Thanks to that, I had been looked down upon in my new highschool due to my 'feminine' looks.

The high school was a rich boys school. I forgot the name already. I didn't like it because a lot of rich kids went there but I was interested in the dorms. It was in my last year if middle school when I found out about that high school and studied hard enough to get a scholarship there.

My life had improved significantly there. Though some may say it deprived because I got bullied. Even then, the bullying didn't last long thanks to my fists.

Thanks to scoring a straight hundred in all my subject except for one, which I got ninety nine because of a careless mistake, the school had accepted me and the scholarship paid for my education, lodging and food. Heck. Because of my burns I could wear home clothes to school instead of those damn uniforms. If being alone and being bullied were the byproducts of all those benefits, I'd say that my highschool life was amazing.

During my first year, I joined the Kazoku club... Well it's team but screw that. I joined the club and went through harsher training than the others due to discrimination. I eventually came out on top and at the end of my first year, my rating was the best even among the third years.

In that first year, I also took up a part time job. That's how I got my money to buy gun upgrades. And because I was under the scholarship, I didn't have to waste my earnings on paying the school and could save up for a new gun.

And that was the story of how I got to that situation in my second year. The situation where I sat on a bench with two attractive girls eating ice cream along with a gun case on my lap.

"I'm... Fine." I croaked out my reply. My throat was very dry so I could only manage to sound like a dying turtle.

"Nope you're not. I bet you are hungry and thirsty." The lively girl swallowed the remainder of her ice cream and pulled me up by the arm with a grin. "I know this place. Come!"

As I was reliving the memory, an annoying voice came through the earpiece.

"Alright. Assault starting in twenty seconds."

"Ahh... It's time. Put on your helmet Ikezawa." Katika tossed a stick at my head which I somehow managed to catch at the very last second.

"Yeah I know. Cover my ass. Don't shoot unless they shoot back. Your gun is noisy as fuck." I coldly reminded him and carefully taped the picture back onto the padding of my helmet and put it on in one smooth motion.

"I know you idiot. I've been pro for three years already man."

I grabbed my gun and got into a firing position, finger on the trigger.

"And I've been pro for six. Now shut the fuck up."

We stayed in complete silence  
Apart from the light taps of drizzling raindrops on the trees and the frogs and crickets, there was no sound. Not even breathing.

"Hey."

My helmet speaker broke the silence. Katika was talking to my on the radio. It was a method to reduce noise. By speaking through the radio, one did not have to shout out loud and could whisper to each other even when under fire.

"What the hell do you want?" I mumbled back.

"It's been a minute since the attack commenced but there's no sound."

I thought about it. It was odd, yes. The sound of a gun shot could he heard from halfway across the arena. That was five kilometers away. The main attack position was just a measly three. This is the advantage of small maps. One shot can give away your location immediately.

"Wait. I bet they're tossing pebbles and sniping."

"Ya sure?"

"Mm."

"I don't-"

He was cut off by two gunshots. The first came from E-three where the main force was attacking. And the other came from right in front of me. On the other side of the hill, tan enemy Sniper had spotted us and nailed Katika right on the head.

"You were saying?" His helmet was emitting a bright red light from the side of the visor, signifying that he was 'dead'. When a player was dead, they were not allowed to move until the fighting had died down and a ceasefire was called by the organizer and a team was sent in the extract him. Of course, he would be stuck in that uncomfortable position until the fighting died down which could last anywhere from a few minutes to an entire day.

I teased him a little and fired a single round at the general location of the enemy Sniper and was rewarded by a red flash of light.

"Lucky." I chuckled a little before allowing myself to fall backwards. Intuition told me there ia going to be a Heavy who saw that engagement.

The moment I hit the ground, the space above me was filled with bullets. They tore though the ramshackle cabin and collapsed the walls one by one. This is why I hate fighting defending teams. They get unlimited ammo while the attackers can only use what they can carry.

I rolled out through a hole in the walls and barely escaped the collapsing house. Katika's helmet lights flashed a bright orange for a split second before the roof came falling down. Orange light meant that the system had detected a problem that could kill the player if he was 'dead'. The armor would then harden all the gel on the player's body, making him as stong as a rock. After the danger had passed though, it would revert back to normal. Truly amazing stuff I must say yet again.

Seemingly satisfied with his job 'well' done, the heavy stopped firing and gave the go ahead for a team of ten Riflemen to move out of cover from the base and begin a standard flanking maneuver to combat my team at point E-three... Though judging from the incredible racket coming from there, they have probably pushed into the base already.

"Commander. I've been spotted. Katika down. I mailed a Sniper."

The commander's reply was instantaneous.

"Sad for him. Zero kills. We pushed in with twenty four. Now we have fourteen. We took down twenty though. The other team at A-one has pushed all the way into the base though they're being pinned down by Heavies. They took out five. Lost one."

Hmm. That was a rather long reply. He must be in a good position then.

"I have ten Rifles here. One heavy." I did the math in my head quickly. Forty minus twenty minus five minus one was fourteen. Getting rid of the ten Riflemen and one Heavy I had here left the enemy with three. "Are you and your A team really being pinned down by three men?!"

"Nope. They're biding their time. They have twelve left. And it's not just three men. It's three Heavies. Unlimited ammo is a pain. Nail the heavy on your end thanks. I'll send of few of ours to reciprocate the ten from your end."

"Right."

I pointed my rifle at the Heavy that was still in view. The confident prick was standing in plain view. I adjusted my aim slightly to the right to make up for wind and held my breath.

I bet the camera is on me now. Those spectators better be watching me get twelve solo kills.

One... Two... Three... Bang.

My shoulder jolted back from the recoil and I repositioned my aim to the group of Riflemen. I glanced in the direction of the Heavy and noticed I got him in the neck and his helmet was glowing red. The Riflemen who were so full of themselves earlier were now scurrying for cover after hearing my one shot.

One... Two... Three... Bang.

Another kill. This time he was shot in the back of the head.

I received some scattered return fire in my general direction. I guess they haven't zeroed in on me yet. All the better.

I lined my crosshairs on an idiot who was sticking his head out from a rock.

Bang.

Got him on the forehead.

They looked around bewildered, still not having found my location. Though it must be because they never expected me to stay near the destroyed cabin.

I took three more pot shots. Two of them found their way to a target while the last one barely missed.

Now, I started to receive several shots. One even hit the ground beside my head. Time to relocate I guess.

"Okay. Ikezawa. We've cleared the base. My team is moving towards you. Did you engage all ten of them? Because my team is complaining that they have not encountered any hostiles."

"Yeah." I managed between pants. Running around in the mud when the enemy had found you is far more tiring than it looks. "I got four of them. Six left."

"Ah. You confident bastard. You wanted the glory of taking all the kills for yourself."

I grinned despite a bullet grazing my arm. The gel hardened to mimic a loss of movement due to injury and my HUD displayed a picture of me with my left arm glowing red to show my injury.

"You know me so well."

"No shit? That's the reason why I took your place as commander. Yoou kept getting yourself killed halfway into the match."

"Hai hai. Now shhh."

I stopped running and crouched. Using my knee as a replacement arm, I steadied my gun and fired a single shot, taking our an enemy.

"Don't you dare 'Shhh' me Ikezawa!" The annoying g commander got more annoying.

I disconnected myself from the radio and rolled away from a burst of gun fire. Stopping myself with my right arm and taking aim at the enemy while using a branch as a stabilizer, I managed to get off another shot that barely missed before being forced to duck down.

Six more bullets.

I felt the mechanism in the gun loading the next round. It was just a slight vibration but thanks to cleaning it everyday, I knew exactly which parts were moving just by the intensity of the vibration. Currently, the bullet was being pushed into the barrel. A light click meant that it was ready to fire.

Taking aim, I noticed that only two if the enemy were left and they were firing scattered shots. Just suppressive fire.

Now, if two are left, that means four are here to kill me.

I took several deep breaths to get myself ready for close combat.

The first opponent appeared. I fired immediately at his chest, taking him out instantly. Two more came and pointed their rifles at me. I threw my rifle at one and lunged at the other, catching them by surprise. Pulling out a pistol from this enemy's waist and fired a shot at the other one before taking out the one I was pinning down.

Proud with my work, I smiled to myself and stood up confidently... Only to have the air knocked from my chest by five bullets.

Ah... I forgot about that guy.

My body was thrown back by the force of the shots and my vision was filled with red light.

That pesky commander is gonna nag.

* * *

"You bloody idiot." The commander glared at me. Helmet in his hand and rifle slung over his shoulder. "Nine kills confirmed solo kills and you were still greedy for more? Couldn't you have just waited for reinforcements before engaging?!"

He went on and on.

Earlier, he had scolded Katika for not being careful and now he was happily nagging away at me.

"Hai hai." Another player, Yashiro, placed his hand on the commander's shoulder in a bid to try and calm him. "That's enough Momozawa. We won the match didn't we?"

The commander grunted. A bit like a pig to be honest. And shrugged his hand off. "I'll let you off the hook this time Ikezawa. Next time, have a better sense of self preservation. Please."

He gave me one last glare before stomping off.

"Enjoy having your little triple kill and blind shot being put up in the 'Top Plays' video." Yashiro grinned and ran a hand through his cropped hair. "Now if you excuse me, I'm gonna go get a drink. You coming?"

I shook my head and went off to the changing rooms. I never was one to join in on such things. Maybe that's why I was such a failure of a commander. I never understood the feelings my teammates had and always judged them on skill alone.

Even when one of them made a great play or made a terrible mistake, I never rewarded or reprimanded them. The fact that I didn't give much commands in the first place and went off on my own sniping missions were a contributor as well.

I stepped into the changing rooms. In this smaller arena, they were nothing much. A bit like the common swimming pool toilets but cleaner and classier.

Steel doors with each player's name displayed by a touchscreen lead into a small cubicle that was separated into two by a glass door. There was a changing area where you did your well, changing and behind the glass door was a shower and a soap dispenser.

When you signed in, your belongings were collected and you were issued your suit of armor.

In the changing part of the cubicle, there was a bench, a locker and a bin. You threw your armor and your helmet in the bin and your belonging you already be in the locker. All you had to do was take all your stuff with you when you leave.

I took off my armor and enjoyed my shower. Did I mention they had hot and cold water? I always took a long time showering. Something about having the warm water flowing down my body really calmed me. The only downside to that was that it made my scars itch so halfway through the shower, I'll usually switch to cold water and get out when satisfied.

I heard a few rough voices from outside the cubicle and stopped my shower.

"You said the sniper guy will be here. Which one is he in?"

"They called him Ikezawa so it would be... this one."

I heard a few loud taps on my cubicle door.

*Sigh* Idiots.

I quickly dried myself and put on my casual clothes. A long sleeved tee and black pants. I carefully removed my precious picture from my helmet and put it into my breast pocket.

Deep breath... All my stuff is packed. Let's go.

I opened my door and ducked, managing to avoid a fist. Good thing I was blacklisted by rich kids and their dogs before eh? Experience teaches you many things.

An uppercut to the chin and a kick to the groin left him whimpering on the ground. However, my victory was short lived and my wrist was grabbed.

A much larger guy compared to his unconscious, lanky friend held me by the wrist and pulled me out of the cubicle, endowing me with a few punches to the face and stomach.

"Oi oi. Dennis. Stop that for a bit. I see something in his pocket." Another well-built guy with a twisted smile reached forward towards my pocket.

His face was covered with pimples which were accentuated by cropped blond hair and a provoking grin. Just like those typical idiots who you felt like punching even if they did nothing wrong.

Knowing what his intentions were, I twisted my body and gave him a nice kick to the shin that was reciprocated by a few more punches.

"You little guy... Fucking annoying to the end aren't ya? Now let me see what's in there..."

I tried to stop him but was held back by the other, larger accomplice. These damn foreign teams man.

He reached in pulled out my picture.

"Oh ho ho?! This is RICH!" He laughed and showed the picture to the man behind me.

Rage filled my body and soul. No one was allowed to see that. No fucking one.

I twisted my arms unnaturally and managed to get out of the bigger man's grasp.

"!"

"He got out?!"

I crouched down and swung my left leg under him, sweeping him off his feet. The smaller man then threw the picture on the floor and lunged towards me.

"You little fucking PRICK!"

* * *

I patted my wet hands on my knees. Getting the blood off them was annoying. Especially the smell. Luckily for them, my picture was unharmed and they were let off easy. Just a missing eye... Or two.

I saw a cleaner walking towards the toilet and smiled at him.

"Good luck."

His puzzled face almost made me laugh as I took out a jacket from my bag and put it on.

I dumped my rifle at the weapons collection area, filled in the paperwork and hurriedly left the building. I don't wanna be dragged back in after they found the three foreigners lying in the toilet. Though there's probably a CCTV inside watching what went down so I don't have anything to worry about.

The sky was grey. Large grey and black clouds moved slowly across the sky like giant Five Overs. Though that analogy won't work anymore. Pretty much all of them were destroyed during the Academy City coup.

A family restaurant had a sign outside saying '300¥ off on any main course.'. 300¥ huh. That's a free drink.

I went in and took the window seat farthest from the counter. The restaurant was pretty empty. The only other patrons to this establishment were a mother and her young daughter having an early dinner.

Since today's match was Kazoku, which is far less popular than Senshadou, not many people had come to watch. And most spectators were men so they would be in the nearby bars instead.

"This is the menu and we are having a special promotion today." A young waitress came to me with a surprisingly genuine smile. "Three hundred yen off any main course," she gestured towards a list of food items on the menu, "and it counts even if you get the set meal."

"Huh. So if I get this, it's three dollars off the total?" I pointed at a random dish.

"Yes. Seven hundred yen for that plus two hundred for drinks minus three hundred thanks to the offer so it's six hundred yen."

I was genuinely taken aback by her service. Eating home cooked food for a year had made me forget what proper customer service was like.

"Huh. Okay then. I'll have the Hamburg steak then. Drinks would be a coke."

She smiled and picked up the menus. Satisfied with my quick order I guess. It would have saved her one trip to and fro the counter if I had taken my time to order.

"Thank you sir. Please wait a moment."

I watched her retreating back. I had to admit, she has a nice figure. And that uniform only helped to enhance it.

I rested my head on the soft backrest. This is also the first time in a year that I have gone to a family restaurant.

-/-

The first time I went to one was when I met Reina and Maho in Osaka.

"Are you sure this place is good?" I looked around the brightly decorated room.

"Mm! It's good. Trust me." Reina winked and gave me a thumbs up.

A waitress in a boring khaki uniform and red cap came to our table and asked for our orders.

"Coffee." Maho said with her eyes half closed. She was really pretty. I'd even say she was prettier than Reina but she had a really cold disposition.

'She's probably a murderer or something.' I thought to myself jokingly.

"And I'll have quadruple scoop icecream. Two chocolate, two vanilla." Reina smiled at the waitress and waited for my order. "Go on! Don't be shy."

I sweatdropped. Did she just order more ice cream? Didn't she just finish an ice cream cone earlier? I pried open my wallet and looked in. It met my expectations by being completely empty apart from a few coins.

"I'm broke."

"Huh. Then I'll pay for you first. But you have to eat whatever I call for you."

Maho gave her a look that seemed to say 'What-the-hell-are-you-doing?'. Well, I can't say for sure but I'm pretty sure I was giving Reina the same look.

Only after she placed our orders and when the waitress had gone away did she turn to me and laugh.

"Why did you come out when you're broke? And you didn't bring any food or water from home?"

"Nope. I live in a dorm."

"Then don't your parents give you any pocket money? Or did you spend it all?"

"I don't have any parents. They died when I was young."

Reina's eye widened and her excitement levels dropped instantly. Even Maho seemed taken aback by my situation.

"Then how do you stay in the dorm?"

"Scholarship."

"Then where do you get money to spend?"

"I have a part time job as a cashier in a shop near my school. It's nearby actually. On the opposite side of Osaka." I tried to lighten the mood but Reina looked really sympathetic. She's probably the type who's really close to her family.

"Eh? That's good. You live near Maho!" She wrapped her arm around her friend's shoulders and shook them. "I stay all the way in Tokyo so it takes quite a while to get here by train. I'm staying over at her place for a while."

"You didn't have to say all that you know?" Maho pushed Reina off and folded her arms. "We just met him and there you are telling him everything."

Her eyes met mine.

"And why do you cover your face?"

I knew this was coming. Everyone asked me why I covered my face with my hair and after I showed them, they would act all sorry and run away. Taking a deep breath, I began my explaination.

"Well, I was in a fire when I was a kid and got half my face burnt."

Contrary to what I was expecting, Reina's eyes widened and so did her smile. Even Maho raised an eyebrow, her interested piqued.

"Oh shit! That sounds cool. Let me see!" Reina reached over the table and pushed aside my curtain of hair. But in doing so, she also revealed her cleavage due to her really loose top.

Luckily, Maho came to my rescue. She pulled Reina back to her seat and smacked her on the head.

"Sorry about her. And Worst, your shirt was hanging down. He could look in."

"Naw it's fine. He doesn't seem like the perverted type." She waved off Maho and resumed her analysis of my face. "And your scar looks really cool. Is it only your face of is it the entire right side of your body." Her finger pointed at my long sleeves.

"Yeah. The entire right side of my body has scars." I readjusted my hair to properly cover my face. "The school often complained about parents saying that I was scaring their kids so I either had to bandage it up or conceal it. They even allow me to wear home clothes to school."

"Sweet!"

The waitress returned with ice cream and coffee in hand.

"Please wait a moment for your food." She said to me before attending to another table. Hmm... It just occurred to me that the restaurant was pretty crowded. Maybe the food really is good.

"So... How will you pay me back?" Reina asked between mouthfuls of ice cream. She ate it like rice.

"Uhhh... I'll call you when I earn it back. My pay day is next week."

Reina's lips curled upwards making a cat-like smile.

"Maho-sama, isn't your family looking for someone to help take care of your tanks?"

-/-

A knock on the window beside me distracted me. Why are all my reminiscing moments getting interrupted today?

I put on the fiercest glare I could muster and looked out the window expecting either Kazoku officials ready to hold me responsible for injuring other players or friends of those three idiots out for vengeance.

Instead, I was greeted by an annoyed looking Maho. Wiping the glare from my face, I switched it into a smile that probably looked more like a grimace and gestured for her to join me.

Maho was like an older sister to me even though she was the same age as me. Well, technically she was just three months older.

After Reina had talked her into hiring me that day, she had phoned home to notify her mom who accepted it immediately. They were surprisingly desperate.

My job was to clean their mansion's tanks every day and after every training session. Inside and out. The pay was good too. Five hundred yen per tank. The mansion had ten tanks.

And thanks to special intervention by Reina, I had been allowed to live in their shed. Which was two stories tall and bigger than most apartments. I could even drive a tank around the massive estate like a car! It was one of the best times in my life. A comfortable home and a strict employer that eventually became like family.

Maho slowly lowered herself down on the seat opposite me and ordered a coffee.

My interrogation has commenced.

"So, what did you do again? The federation called home. Luckily it was me who they decided to call. If mom found out you'd be dead."

"Three idiots jumped me in the toilet 'cos they were pissed that I got nine kills." I gave her a very, very simplified version.

"And dealt with them by giving one a broken jaw, another a broken nose and the leaving last one blind in one eye?"

"Huh. He got off blind in just ONE eye? I was sure I jabbed him hard enough to get both."

She facepalmed and shook her head.

"Do you know how much trouble you've made for me with this one? I've helped you out with so many cases that they are getting annoyed."

"Hey! In my defense, they jumped me. I know that there's a CCTV watching the metal doors." I folded my arms indignantly. "They jumped me."

She maintained her glare for a few more seconds before sighing. "I know. They already reviewed the tapes and just wanted me to warn you not to do anything like that again."

"So just a warning?" I really got off easy this time. The last time I did something like that, there were no CCTVs in the vicinity and had to do community service for a week.

"Yes just a warning. So promise me you won't get into trouble again."

Her eyes softened and a little smile graced her lips. When she smiled, her beauty level increased significantly. Of course, it wasn't Reina's level but still...

"Hai, hai onee-chan."

"Good."

That was a short interrogation. Lucky me. The last time I got into a fight, she had given me a five hour long lecture on the meaning of restraint. Of course, Reina was there giggling like mad.

"Err..."

We turned simultaneously towards the source of the sound, making the waitress jolt back a little.

"Sorry, am I interrupting something?"

"No, not at all." Maho used her 'calm-collected-head-of-the-house' tone. To be honest, it was more than a little intimidating.

The waitress sweatdropped and put our orders on the table before forcing a smile and scurrying off.

"Enjoy your meal!"

Mahi raised an eyebrow at my food before placing her cup on her lips.

"Hmm? Hamburg steak? Same as the one she got you huh."

I smiled sadly at the plate of food before me. It smelled good. Looked good too. But it lacked the same appeal as the one Reina got for me that day.

"Yeah. I was gonna visit her before going home. Since I finally got the chance to come to Tokyo." I managed to cough out before my chest tightened.

"Mm. Wanna dump your things at my place first?" Maho's mansion may be in Osaka, but thanks to her family's wealth, she had a rather large house in several cities.

"That's fine by me."

* * *

"Alright. Get off here and walk in."

I looked up the dark path. The sun was setting and the large tree branches spread out like umbrellas, doing a good job of keeping the light out.

"Thanks. You're not coming?"

"Mm. I already went. Take your time in there. The owners of the place wouldn't be happy to see me anyway."

I raised an eyebrow.

"You'll see."

I nodded to her in thanks and climbed out of the tank. Being in the family of the one of the heads of Senshadou brought many benefits. One of which was that you can drive a tank around like it was a car.

Oh yeah, did I mention how the tank was converted more or less into a car? The maybach engine of the Pzkpfw. III Ausf. D was replaced by a brand new Porsche one... I wasn't too sure of the model but I do know that it has a power output of seven hundred horsepower.

The turret ring was still operational but the ammunition rack, gun and loading systems were removed and replaced by an air-conditioning system and extra cabin space. Not to mention the seats were not just lined with cushions but were replaced by a sofa.

But due to the addition of the air-conditioning, all holes in the tank were sealed and the entire plate of armor at the front of the tank was replaced by a glass windscreen. I guess that made it less of a tank and more of a big car on treads.

My boots hit the gravel road with a crack and I trudged up the path. Despite its sketchy appearance, it was actually really well kept. Little to no weeds grew in between the pebbles and the path always level and equal in width. No potholes in sight too.

Cold night air swirled around me. A welcome change from the hot and humid weather we have been having for the past few days.

The path went all the way into the forest for I would say a good seven or eight hundred meters. Uphill too. Luckily, the temperature tonight was rather low and I didn't work up a sweat. I savoured the sounds of insects like not many would. In Kazoku matches, insects were a telltale sign of enemies and I hardly got the time to fully appreciate their songs.

By the time I reached the top of the hill, the sky had turned dark. Twilight had ended. There were many graves atop this hill but one stood out in particular. A large, clean looking one with a small patch of flowers framing a large HEAT round. Maho's doing no doubt.

But the most striking thing about it was not the fact that there was an explosive shell on its altar but there was a boy. He was on the taller side, one point seven meters tall I estimated. Short, messy dark brown hair, no muscle to speak of. Still in highschool probably.

'Must just be one of her friends.' I thought to myself and strode up beside him and made a prayer.

'Hey... Reina, it's me. Iwao. Sorry I took so long to come but here I am.'

As you may have noticed, I was speaking in my mind. No way in hell I'd let some kid listen to my inner thoughts.

The boy had noticed me and jolted backwards. Scared by my hair I bet. Ignoring his inquisitive eyes, I continued to mind my own business.

'Maho came. But she decided to stay in the tank. That shell must have been hers eh? No wonder she said the owners would not be happy to see her. And I'm sure you'd rather have an explosive end instead of a simple burial but... There ya go haha.'

Memories of my times with her came rushing back to me. Replaying scenes from the time we first met to the many outings we had. Can't call them dates because Maho would be there… I also couldn't say that we haven't gone on dates but that was another story for another time.

-/-

Four years ago.

"Hey," I broke the awkward silence. "this is nice and all but why are we here?"

Reina was sitting beside me, watching the waves crash onto the sand.

"It's nice isn't it?"

Cryptic response eh?

"Wanna see the sunset?"

She nodded silently.

We sat in a comfortable silence on a picnic mat. Enjoying the sound of the waves and the sea breeze. Sea birds flew in the distance, returning to their nests on hanging cliffs.

"Thanks for earlier." She suddenly spoke up.

"Mm?"

"Yeah. For coming along with me. You always had a thing for Maho-sama right? Must have been weird for you to come along with me. Alone."

"No! No... It wasn't a pain for me. And Maho and I don't have anything going on."

She grinned. Though it seemed pained.

"Don't lie to me, I know you like her. Look at you! Haha!"

"No, I don't!"

"C'mon Iwao, out with it."

My cheek started to redden. I wasn't ready for this. All my time was spent on things like fighting, training, working and studying. The only times I could enjoy myself and be honest with others was when I was with Reina or Maho... Or when Maho's mom, Shiho Nishizumi, my real employer, was interrogating me.

"I don't like her that way! She's like family to me."

That was technically true. After highschool, Reina had convinced Maho's mother to let me stay at their mansion's shed since I was working there. The shed was large enough to hold their entire fleet of four tanks that had been converted into cars, one of which Maho was driving earlier, on the first story. The massive but empty second story was refurbished and became my home. So, in a way, I became a part of the Nishizumi family.

"So no incestuous feelings for her?" Reina teased.

"Heck no." I mumbled, my blush receding.

"So who DO you like?" Her attack continued.

"What?!"

"If it's not Maho... Is it Kikuyo-sama or even Shiho-sama?"

I slid away from her.

"Hell no."

"You're not into older women? Then who is it? Me?!"

She burst out laughing at her joke. But little did she know...

"Hmm? Iwao? Your face is all red."

I shook my head and backed away slowly.

"Nahh it's nothing..."

I considered telling her my feelings. I didn't think that she had any for me. After all, we were just friends that met up once or twice a week. I didn't want to ruin our relationship.

"You sure?"

She put her face just centimeters away from mine and stared into my eyes. The setting sun cast a beautiful orange glow into her eyes turning them into a breathtaking golden brown.

'Fuck it. Just do it.' A voice in my head urged me.

"Actually..."

"Hmm?"

"The one I like is... You."

(A.N. IM SORRY ITS CLICHÉ BUT I WAS READING A MEME ABOUT THESE SORTA CONFESSIONS AND I COULDN'T RESIST PUTTING THIS IN!)

"Ehhhhh?!"

Now it was her turn to be a chameleon and turn bright red. She jumped back and covered her face with her hands.

"Don't lie." Her voice was soft.

"I am not lying."

Reina peeked at me through her fingers.

"You really mean it don't you."

I nodded. Her reaction had given me confidence.

"I really like you. In that way."

"Even though I'm noisy, bitchy and all?"

"That's actually why I like you."

"Mm."

My eyes widened as she pounced on my and pressed her lips on mine.

"You're the first one who said that to me you know? Even though it was horribly executed."

"Well, you're the first person who didn't hide from my scars."

"Why should I? You're a nice guy."

And that was the beginning of our mid-distance relationship.

Yes. I made up that term.

~~~~~~~~Haimura~~~~~~~~~

'Once again, thank you for saving me. For some reason, I know that you would have saved me even if Yuriko weren't there. So thank you.'

I concluded my prayer and took a step back.

I had come here again after the Ichiranasai meetings to ask for Reina's help to watch over Yuriko. Not that I doubted her ability to survive. But more of putting my mind at ease. Even Yuriko's sisters, Mikoto and Misaka had asked me if she was fine.

Suddenly, the songs of the crickets grew quiet. Someone else was here.

Less than a second later, a sensed a presence beside me and turned my head. I jumped back in surprise.

A person with long black hair covering half his... Or her face stood there. She, I guessed from her body shape made an almost silent snort upon seeing the explosive shell in front of Reina's grave. A friend of hers I guess.

The visitor's uniform was nothing short of odd.

Green skinny jeans over black construction boots and a dark purple shirt to top it off. Exactly what Touma's aunt Orianna would call a designers nightmare. Though it was most likely a total lack of care to what she was wearing opposed to bad fashion sense.

I slowly lowered myself on a nearby bench. They had come as a byproduct of me teasing her as much as I could before she went on her trip. On the day before she left, I could safely say I had just as many bruises as Touma. And that was an achievement in itself.

*Sniff*

Eh?

I forced my mind off its nonsensical musings and got up from my seat.

The visitor's breathing was getting heavy and her shoulders were visibly shaking.

"A-are you okay?!" The moment I touched her shoulder, my world became nothing more than a swirl.

Ah?

My back was on the ground and a boot was firmly pressed on my chest. The visitor's face was right in front of mine but due to the darkness, I couldn't see any features.

"For fucks' sakes why am I always getting interrupted when I'm in the middle of- oh it's just the kid."

The voice that came from the visitor was clearly male.

"Eh? I'm on the ground?" I muttered.

The figure shook it's head and pulled me back up.

"Sorry kid. I was a little on edge."

'More than a little.' I thought to myself.

"Why are you here anyway? You know Reina?"

"Mmhmm. I'm a friend of her sister."

"Which one."

"Yuriko mostly but I know the twins too."

He cocked his head and patted my shoulders, getting rid of the dirt.

"Hmm. You're _that_ kid huh. Thank her profusely."

The man walked off silently. It's amazing how quiet he was. The ground was made up of rough pebbles and littered with twigs and branches.

"Huh. What a strange guy."

Scratching my head, I picked up my bag from a dry spot near Reina's grave and noticed that there was a piece of paper placed alongside the literal bomb Maho had put down the other day.

Intrigued, I whipped out my phone and shone a light on it, revealing a young Maho and Reina playing with water while a young man with long hair covering his scarred face watched in amusement.

"Her boyfriend?" I said aloud and switched off my phone.

Ah... Yuriko will be coming back tomorrow. I guess I'll ask her or the twins.

========Academy City========

"Oh Ladylee! Are you here?"

A woman wearing a dirty lab coat over a black shirt and dress stood in a large amphitheatre nestled within the massive space elevator that was the Endymion.

"What do you want Yuuitsu? And what the hell did you do to yourself?"

A shorter woman who looked more like a girl wearing a red, frilly dress appeared from the shadows of the top story of seats. She folded her arms and looked down with disgusted painted on her face.

The woman wearing the lab coat grinned. Her body looked normal but on the edges of her hands, the flesh was moving. Constantly changing forms. One moment, it was a sword. In the next, it turned into a mallet. Then an axe. Her back was connected to large legs that seemed to also be made out of her flesh.

The legs protruded from holes in her clothes and extended outwards. Some retained their function as legs while others became more sinister things. Gatling guns, railguns, laser beams, rocket launchers. Each and every weapon looked like it was composed of human flesh but at the same time, it looked metallic.

"Hmm? This?" She raised her arm up to eye level and turned it from an axe to a gun barrel. "I infused the Sample Shaggoth into my body and got this." She fired a bullet that barely missed Ladylee's face. "Cool eh?"

Despite the evident threats that Yuuitsu was displaying, Ladylee barely batted an eyelash.

"What do you want the Endymion for?" She asked Yuuitsu again.

"I just need it as a 'radio tower' of sorts."

"What do you want?" Ladylee repeated her question.

"Oh Ladylee, why do want to know so badly?" Yuuitsu pointed her weapons at Ladylee and laughed.

In response, spider-like robots appeared from the shadows of the amphitheatre. Dozens of soldiers with monotonous expressions appeared beside Ladylee.

"I know these may not be much to you. But know this, Endymion is NOT FOR RENT!"

With Ladylee's shout, dozens of missiles, bullets and disk-shaped explosives took to the air.

It wouldn't take an idiot to figure out who won.

A large explosion rocked the base of the Endymion. Countless glass windows broke and turned the ground into a gigantic pin cushion. Thankfully, the elevator was held up by powerful electromagnets like the Dianoid opposed to the conventional concrete base most buildings used. After all, if something as massive as the Endymion was build on the ground, it would collapse upon the slightest vibration from the earthquakes that frequently shook the island.

Fifteen minutes later, thousands of white specks shot up towards the sky from hundreds of launch pads on Academy City's surface. Even though the JSDF had forces stationed there, they were eradicated without mercy. Not a single distress signal was sent out.

All residents of the City were ordered to stay indoors by the Academy City's General Superintendent - Kihara Yuuitsu.

And thanks to the removal of the walls surrounding the City, no one noticed the hundreds of almost invisible creatures that swarmed out of the city... And neither did any space organization notice the formation of a transparent base in the stratosphere made out of hundreds upon hundreds of corpses of the same creatures emerging from the City.

* * *

A.N. Aaaand there you go. The beginning of the second enemy arc, Yuuitsu and the Elements. Details will be changed, storylines will never be as good as Kamachi-senpai and tanks, soldiers and Haimura with a baseball bat and a gun?

Fun fact: Katika and Yoshino are Anti-skill members while Mike and Dennis are from Hound Dog.

No appearance from Yuriko because... well, you have no idea how boring it is to read about someone going through a masterclass. I was priviledged to go to one with my school band and i am sorry to say, it was a little boring for a percussionist. Haimura had a short scene also, but i wanted this one to be a little dive into Worst's (this story's Worst) relationships because i find her to be the most interesting of all my chars haha!

I dunno if any of you noticed but Iwao is based off Hanako Ikezawa from Katawa Shoujou. I saw a friend of mine playing it (its a VN) and fell in love with her char design and made an OC based off her. I hope i dont get copyrighted...

uhhh Ladylee is a nice person in this one, I made her a girl who was attached to her building... that would not be sent out to space like the canon one but at least she wont die... maybe. Who knows who might appear in the next one.

And of course, once Yuriko gets back from her trip, and the elements attack, guess who is coming back.

*insert image of beetle*

Once again, I hope you liked it and all. this story has hit 2k views and i finally took the time to analyze the visitor graph and noticed that i have a few returning visitors... THANKS FOR YOUR SUPPORT.

P.S. all those who favved and followed, you have my greatest thanks *heart*

Have any of you watched Kimi no Na wa yet? if you havent, GO WATCH IT! ITS AMAZING!


	21. Chapter 20

Chapter 20

The night sky.

It was a mysterious place. Many a man has been captivated by its beauty and ensnared by the stars. But tonight, when the stars fall, they will bring more than just wonder and awe. They will bring more than just fear and destruction.

The Elements have taken over the stage.

~~~~~~~~~Yuriko~~~~~~~~~~

The loud cheer of a large crowd.

I don't think I will ever get used to that sound.

Standing backstage, Natsuki leaned her shoulder on mine and complained about our band's attire.

"Man, look at those other bands. They're uniforms look so cool." She pointed and flailed her arm at the other band who had just finished their performance.

They were from a school in Osaka and, just like us, had come for a masterclass and the opportunity to perform in front of a large crowd. Their attire consisted of tuxedos and black pants for the boys and long, frilly dresses for the girls. Each section had their own color scheme too. The percussionists wore blue blazers and dresses while the clarinetists dazzled the crowd with bright gold.

"And look at our band." Natsuki deadpanned and turned my head.

Our band had a standardized uniform. Red blazer over black pants. Though the uniform looked far from glamorous, it wasn't the look if it that Natsuki was complaining about. It was the material. The thick, heavy, long sleeved blazer trapped heat really well and just a minute after putting it on, I was sweating buckets. In addition, the performance area was not air conditioned and was literally, a giant wooden block with stairs and paper-thin walls. The collective body heat of the people crammed into this waiting room did nothing to cool us down.

"Yeah. But it's better to be positive." I forced the words out of my mouth with gritted teeth. It was hypocritical of me to say that since I was cursing the designer of the uniform as well.

"Shhhh you two. Watch the performance and maybe you can learn something." Nozomi smacked both our heads.

"Hai, hai." "Haaaaaaaaaai."

The Osaka band was playing a piece called the 'Jackson 5 medley.' It sounds really good. Not just because of the way it was arranged, but because the band really did a good job of linking the melodies and passing the melodies to different sections. For example, the trumpets would stand up and play a little flurry of notes before returning to their seats and getting the saxophones to take over. The smoothness of the transitions is testament to how skilled and close-knit they are.

"Why did the decide to put us after them though? The audience is going to scoff at how bad we are." Natsuki complained once again. Ever since the masterclass, she had been in a rather cynical mood.

The instructor, who went by the name Mr. Yamashita, was a stout man with a stern face and an eccentric personality. After pushing the band to the limit by doling out hours of breathing practices, forcing out scales and managing the sound balance of the band, he had somehow managed to make our mediocre band sound like a professional one. I have no doubt that Haimura would be more than happy to join the class.

"You don't have to be so annoying about it. Everyone is tired after yesterday..." Nozomi's voice was drowned out by a loud drum fill. Just by looking at his face, it was obvious the drummer was panicking as he had forgotten the scores. But he was doing a good job improvising on the spot. I couldn't make out any mistakes.

"You were saying?" Natsuki asked coyly.

Nozomi blushed and repeated her words. "But the euphoniums had it especially hard."

Natsuki grinned. "See? I have a reason to complain."

I shook my head in amusement. Yesterday, the master conductor had picked on the euphoniums for every little mistake. More so than the other sections due to their section having no first years and thus, no reason to make careless mistakes.

When the class had finally ended, she and her section mates had visibly deflated and were too exhausted to go back to their rooms Natsuki had to be physically carried by 'Knuckle' senpai, the percussionist that I met at school.

The guy had a legitimate harem. He is the only male in his section and was rather well built. Something that most girls like apparently… Though he got more than a few angry glares from the other, more lanky boys for that.

I think I forgot to mention but the masterclass was held in a function room in the hotel. That's why we brought our instruments all the way from Tokyo.

Suddenly, the music cut off with a sharp screech from the trumpets and the spotlights turned dark for a moment before gradually growing brighter again.

The crowd cheered loudly. I looked at the exposed arms and necks of the performers that were glistening with sweat. Looks like we weren't the only ones who were hot and sweaty. The band took a bow along with their conductor and left the stage.

"We're up!" Shutaura broke us out of our trance watching the Osaka band.

The spotlights faded and we shuffled onto the stage. It was our turn to perform. We quickly moved into our positions and sat in concert formation.

I sat down beside Nozomi. There were four players in the flute section, one of us playing the piccolo. In the past, I would quietly play the notes written on the score in front of me, minding my own business. Now, after socializing with Natsuki and making a few new friends, I knew the names of about half of all the fifty band members. Compared to not knowing anyone other than Arisa, this was a huge leap forward for me.

Natsuki nudged my arm with an elbow, her flute in hand at the ready. She had polished it well. I could see my reflection staring clearly back at me. If I looked harder, I could even see the little bumps on my skin and the light make up on my cheeks and eye lashes that Natsuki had forced on me.

"Don't worry Yuriko. It's alright to make a mistake. Just enjoy the music." She smiled and placed a free hand on my shaking hand.

I hadn't realized that I was shaking so much. The pre-performance jitters must have caught up with me.

"Mm!" Nodding quickly and smiling as well, I took at deep breath to control myself.

The overhead lights switched on again, revealing us, the performers to the crowd. Of course, we could barely see them with the lights shining on us instead of them, but at least the lights from nearby stores illuminated them somewhat, making them look less like ghouls.

"Please welcome the 'A Certain highschool' Wind Ensemble on stage!

A presenter introduced us. Once again, the crowd started cheering. This festival really is quite a big thing here. In addition to the many locals, there were also quite a few tourists and judging from their clothes, even some people from the country side had come over just to join in the celebrations.

"Stand!" Shutaura shouted from the back of the band. We rose from our seats, Nozomi helping me up.

Our conductor came from backstage and took to the podium before bowing to the crowd as well. She smiled at us and waved her baton, a gesture telling us to take our seats. The presenter passed her the microphone.

"Hello everyone!"

She was received by another cheer.

"We are the 'A Certain highschool' band and are privileged to be here to perform. Thank you for having us!" She took another quick bow. "We will be performing the AKB-forty-eight medley one for wind ensemble."

We watches as realization washed across the crowd. Knowing what sing would appeal to audiences was Arisa's strong point. Good thing the conductor always listened to Arisa's advice when choosing performance repertoire.

The conductor bowed one last time and turned back to us with a wide grin.

Another wave of nervousness hit me. The opening of the piece was a really hard run for the woodwinds. What if I screwed up?

Unknowingly, my hands started shaking again.

Nozomi placed her hand on my right arm. And Yoriko Souga-san, whose name I just learned yesterday, placed her own hand on my other arm to calm me down. Her actions surprised me. Most piccolo players were kinda stuck up but she was just as nice as Nozomi.

"Don't worry. Embrace the performance. Take it in through all your senses." She advised just like Nozomi did earlier. She was a really quiet third year and had the most experience of all of us so I hung onto her words like they were a precious treasure.

I nodded again and took a deep breath, closing my eyes.

When I reopened them, I took in the atmosphere through all my senses.

From the cold metal of my instrument in my palm contrasted the heat of my uniform to the smells of nearby food stalls wafing into my nose. The serious expressions of the band members that barely contained their excitement and nervousness. Even our conductor had the exact same expression. The crowd had also fallen silent in preparation for the peformance.

The conductor gestured to a Clarinetist who played a tuning note - Bb.

First, only the woodwinds played but after four beats, the entire brass section joined in.

The conductor waved her baton in a circle to cut off the band and looked right at 'knuckle' senpai on the timpani. I still haven't learned his name yet.

In unison, the band and the conductor took a deep breath. I swallowed my saliva and blinked.

One run.

She swung her baton downwards at the timpanist who started a quiet roll, complemented by a flurry of running notes from the woodwinds leading into a loud crash from the cymbals and an explosion of sound from the brasses.

This performance...

I played another quick run that was followed up by the French horns playing a counter melody to the trumpets.

... Has begun!

* * *

"Whew! That was fun!"

"Mm! We did good didn't we?"

"Yeah! And I saw Mr. Yamashita in the crowd nodding his head and smiling!"

A large number of conversations were going on at the same time in the airplane cabin.

After the performance, which was a huge success by the way, we had hurriedly packed our instruments, and taken a bus to the airport. We were supposed to be back in Tokyo tonight. And as an added bonus, we had the choice whether or not to go to school tomorrow. However, because of the hectic schedule, most of the band members did not have the time to talk and were only now using the time to convey their thoughts and confess the mistakes they made.

"You know I missed my part when I lost count? Haha! If the audience was paying attention, they would have felt that the pick-up for River was kinda soft."

"Yeah! I almost lost count at the Aitakatta part because it was so fast and missed the opening!"

The trumpeters were especially loud and had no qualms about admitting their mistakes.

Slumping down in my seat, I looked beside me and adjusted Natsuki's head into a more comfortable position. The girl had been exhausted after carrying her instrument and then running back to help the percussionists load up theirs on the lorry.

"Mm? She's asleep." Yuuko poked her head from the seats behind me.

"Yeah. She's really cute when she's asleep."

Now that I thought about it, I had a feeling that Last Order would look a bit like her when she grew up. If she decides to keep her hair long that is.

An announcement cut through the noise in the cabin.

"Alright. This is your captain speaking. We will be taking off in a few minutes so please shut off all mobile devices. Thank you for your cooperation."

I hear Mizore yawn from behind me.

"Mm. Time to sleep. Its an hour and a half long flight." Yuuko returned to her seat. Along with Yuuko, most of the other band members grew quiet and took a nap. We had a long day after all. Practicing all morning then having a performance really took its toll. And that's not counting transporting the instruments.

I looked out the window and saw nothing but my reflection looking at me. It's too dark to look out now.

"Hey, Yuriko."

A rather low but feminine voice who I quickly linked with Yoriko came from the seats in front of me, her eye peeping through the small gap in-between the two plush seats.

"Yes?"I was rather nervous. She was a third year, a senpai to be exact. Was she about to scold me for my mistakes? Because I'm sure I made more than just a few.

"You did good for your first performance."

Huh? That wasn't what I was expecting.

"Wait... Really?!" I utterred rather loudly and just got fake snoring in response. I guess she really meant it. Unless it was just encouragement.

Smiling to myself and closing my eyes, I fell asleep in seconds.

~~~~~~~Dark Matter~~~~~~~~

"Yes, yes I am certain. Do you want my help or not? Yeah I thought so. Mobilize everyone. Protect the city."

Fraulein closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose.

"How was it?" I asked. Earlier, she was notifying the JSDF about Kihara Yuuitsu's invasion. After the death of her master, the dog, she seems to have grown a vengeance.

"They agreed after I told them that I was the Beetle that saved their asses the last time and are mobilizing both the EPA and Kazoku in conjunction with their own army."

I grinned. This was perfect. If they could fend for themselves, I could take on Yuuitsu, eliminate her, and clean up Academy City.

"Hey. Don't forget about us." Aleister called from the dinner table where he was munching on cereal with Mugino. They seemed to have a light show going on. A small beam of blueish light from Mugino's Meltdowner fighting with a tiny red one from Aleister.

"Yeah. I'll get you guys to help too."

"Well then!" Mugino clapped her hands, downed her entire bowl of cereal and milk, got up from her chair and blasted a hole in a nearby wall. "Let's go!"

I shook my head. That woman was far too ready for a fight. I repaired the wall with Dark Matter and sent out a Dark Matter fly to pass a message to Sogiita to watch over Fremea. I would have called him to help, but he hasn't fully mastered his power and would be more of a hindrance to us than anything.

Mugino placed her hands on her hips and tapped her foot impatiently. Her brown locks cascading down her back and chest rather attractively, a sheer contrast to her murderous expression.

Aleister wore a more laid back expression as he fuddled with his blasting wand. He was more than capable of going to Academy City on his own but had decided to take the Dark Matter express along with us instead.

I built a large Beetle from Dark Matter and opened its shell, revealing a pair of sofa, which Mugino and Aleister happily took a nap on.

"Idiots." I whispered silently. Fraulein giggled softly and tried her hand at creating a Beetle of her own. It was only five centimeters long. Even though her body was composed mostly of Dark Matter, she could not create much of it on her own.

I created another Beetle for us and hopped in, Fraulein closed behind me

"Alright! Off to Academy City we go!" I shouted at the other two and got silence in response.

"Just go." Fraulein urged.

I merely nodded in response, annoyed that I was ignored.

As the Beetles burrowed underground and prepared themselves to turn into super fast tunnel diggers, Fraulein placed a hand in my shoulder and shook it.

"It'll be fine. Just be safe."

She always calmed me. Ever since we met, she has always been at my side. With her around, I felt unstoppable. As if nothing in the world could beat me.

The Beetles shot forward, tunnelling at four hundred kilometers per hour. So fast that a tunnel was instantaneously formed as a result behind the beetle and collapsed almost immediately after.

At that moment, I felt full of confidence. Little did I expect it would shoot me in the foot later.

~~~~~~~~~Yuriko~~~~~~~~~~

...

...

"I want... Going..."

...

What's this noise? Wasn't everyone sleeping?

"What's outs..."

Ah I guess I can deal with it. Time to go back to sleep..

"... At Osaka for an emergency landing."

My eyes jolted open at the word 'emergency'. Fixing my posture and looking around the plane, I noticed several things.

One, the time displayed on the digital clock was '10:24'. That means we've been in the air for about an hour already.

Two, almost everyone was awake and had frightened expressions. The other passengers who were not part of the band were looking around and demanding an explaination from the flight attendants.

Three, the night sky was filled with lights.

Yes.

Lights.

It wasn't like day time but the sky was so densely filled with orangey-white glowing lines falling from the sky that it looked like a dense display of fireworks.

"Hmm? Yuriko? What's going on?" Natsuki woke up and looked around groggily before dropping her jaw the moment she looked out the window.

"WHAT THE HECK?!"

Her shout was accompanies by various screams, gasps and exclamations from all around. Of course, it was no surprise that someone would be panicking. I for one was panicking as well.

The captain made another announcement.

"Please put on your seatbelts. We will be taking evasive maneuvers and be making an emergency landing."

He was doing a good job of feigning calm but it was obvious that he was just as terrified of what was going on as us.

"I DEMAND AN EXPLAINATION FROM THE CAPTAIN HIMSELF!" A rather obese passenger shouted at a petite looking flight attendant who merely sweatdropped at his reaction, probably used to rowdy passengers.

"I am very sorry about this but we are under extreme circumstances. If you wish, you can have a chat with airport security when we land." She calmly replied and stomped off, leaving him speechless.

"Ouch... That must've hurt."

"Mm. Excellent roast."

Those were the last intelligeble words I heard before the world spun.

The plane went into a quick dive before banking left, making the passengers who hadn't secured themselves flt across the cabin. Those who did however, turned green. Incredible G-forces left me breathless and gasping for air and Natsuki was quickly losing consciousness. My stomach churned and went up to my throat while my vision turned unfocused.

Quick banks and turns ensued for the next five minutes. This pilot was flying a passenger plane like a damn fighter. What the hell was he thinking? The plane is more likely to break apart because of these maneuvers than getting this by a-

My thoughts were cut off by one of those streaks of light hitting and destroying one of the plane's wings, sending it into a tailspin.

"!"

For a second, time seemed to slow. It was like the time I got hit by the car while saving Last Order. Was this how Reina felt when her tank was torn apart?

In that one second, I managed to focus my vision and look out the window. The image outside was one of utter destruction.

The glowing streaks revealed themselves to be meteorites striking the ground. Large fires burned in the different terminals and the telecommunications tower had toppled over. The ground beneath the plane was obviously runway but judging from our trajectory, we wouldn't be landing on it. And considering our speed, we would probably turn into a ball of fire.

I closed my eyes, ready to accept my fate. We were going to die. No doubt about... That...

Would that be what Reina wanted? Did she save me only to let me die for nothing when I had more than enough power to save everyone here? I was not going to let something like that happen again. If I could save them, I will save them.

My eyes widened and I channelled the same power that destroyed the Five Over. The same power that failed to activate when it really counted and allowed it to completely take over my body.

A flow of energy coming from my heart filled my limbs. My vision sharpened and a ghastly image filled my vision. A compass that spun, it's arrow changing colors rapidly.

When it pointed North, it was yellow. South, blue. West, green and East, red. After spinning for what seemed like hours, it finally stopped. But not on any one of those four colors. It pointed directly up and glowed white before disappearing.

The moment it disappeared, the power bestowed upon me by a boy who wanted to be a hero filled my body. All grogginess left my body and I felt like I could physically remake the world. Which was not far from the truth considering what my power was.

Vector Change.

Grey wings emerging from my back, I stood up from my seat with no difficulty despite the plane spinning at more than a hundred kilometers per hour. With my power, I could feel the equations filling my mind.

"Wow..."

'Don't get sidetracked.' A voice reminded me when I saw the unconscious bodies of everyone else in the plane.

I touched the floor of the plane with my fingertips.

The plane is spinning at nineteen revolutions per minute. Moving forward at four hundred kilometers per hour. Time to collision with ground, five seconds.

I closed my eyes and pictured a common vector equation, changed the properties, and propelled myself through the air with nine hundred times the normal power of a jump.

Coming close to the cockpit door, I prepared myself to rip it open and did just that before flying though the windscreen and holding the nose of the plane in my palm. Actually, it rested a good centimeter away from my palm. Due to my power, I couldn't actually touch it and if I did, my hand would be burnt off because of the heat of the metal.

Oddly enough, the calculations nessasary to stop the plane came naturally to me. So I did just that. My wings spread out like and eagle coming to land and I successfully managed to slow the plane enough for it to touch down on the grassy field without much impact. No impact to be exact.

I slumped to the ground in front of the plane. My wings quickly shrinking and eventually disappearing without a trace.

"Whew... It didn't feel like much but that really takes a lot outta you."

I lay on my back and panted. With my ability inactive, I could once again feel the ground beneath my feet.

When reflection was active, I could only feel a cushion of air around me. Everything else was reflected... Well everything apart from non-lethal stuff like light and all. For example, when I stood on the ground, I would be levitating slightly off it. And if u wanted to touch something, I have to remember to factor in the equations so that my reflection would not send it flying.

A dull explosion came from the city, making me go into full alert. I used my arms to force myself up. With reflection deactivated, I couldn't use my legs and needed my cane to walk... Wait... I left my cane in the plane.

Cane in the plane... That rhymed.

Even though my mind was is going a mile a minute, body is still exhausted from my feat. If I had to do something like that again, I'd be damned.

And I have a good feeling that I'd have to, considering the shadows that were moving all around.

~~~~~~~Iwao Ikezawa~~~~~~~

My radio crackled. A welcome change of atmosphere from the sonic booms and crashes coming from all around.

"Unit one. Group up with EPA team six at the mansion and move up to the airport. Clear it out and check for survivors."

The commander didn't ask for confirmation so I stayed silent. No point speaking unnecessarily. Then again, maybe I should speak up.

One unit and team six?! That was two tanks! TWO! WHAT ARE THEY GOING TO DO AGAINST THOSE MONSTERS!?

Amidst my inner tantrum, I heard a burst of gunfire that was quickly silenced. Taking that as my que to get the hell out of the area, I checked my gun's magazine and moved silently towards the rendezvous point... Which was technically just a few blocks of ahead of my position.

I heard a 'whiz' from above me and quickly jumped to the side, narrowly missing a falling meteorite.

Levelling my rifle at the crater, I moved up slowly. Even with the thick cloud of dust, the combat helmet did a good job of cutting through it and revealing the melted bundle of glass-like substance within.

Said bundle was an oval, two meters long and half as wide. That was our enemy. Well, not this one. This one failed the jump. But those that managed to survive are the enemy.

Resembling different animals that used mimicry in the wild, these creatures from the sky were made of a transparent material stronger than reinforced concrete. Their cores containing little black cubes that contained one of four glowing symbols which were their only obvious weak point.

The glowing cores either displayed a red flame, a blue water droplet, a green rock or a yellow cloud. Those four symbols represented what kind of attacks they would use. And the intensity or should I say, brightness of the light showed how large it was.

I heard the familiar boom of a 120mm smoothbore cannon firing. Looks like team six has already reached the rendezvous point. then again, that gun was LOUD. They could be really far away or it could be another team and I'd have no idea.

The sky was still filled with white streaks of light. Whoever was sending those monsters out really had a surplus of them. Almost all of the thousands... Or should I say millions of the falling creatures died upon impact with the Earth. But those that did survive were impossibly strong. And because so many were being deployed, even ninety nine per cent losses would result in at least a few thousand survivors to prowl across Japan.

It was a little like the carpet bombing tactics of World War Two. The bombs were dropped inaccurately over a large area and each bomb had little chance of hitting anything but the sheer number of bombs ensured damage.

I crawled through a hole in a wall leading into an apartment complex.

It was damaged by the impact of that miniscule meteorite. Well, I'm not saying it was small, but compared to those that caused mass extinctions, these meteorites were really tiny.

The sound of gunfire was growing louder by the second so I took a shortcut by running through the apartment instead of around it. Which was a terrible mistake.

Once inside, everything seemed clear for a moment. No hostiles. It was sparsely furnished. Whoever lived here was either very thrifty or poor.

I made out a single wooden table and a bean bag chair in the living room. The kitchen was combined with the living room is effectively empty. There were two other rooms, one a bedroom and the other a toilet most likely.

My boots made a dull 'clicking' sound on the smooth concrete flooring with each step, echoing around the apartment. I made a circle around the table and made my was behind the kitchen counter.

A dead man lay on the floor, his torso sliced cleanly in half, blood and organs spilling all over the floor. His eyes were wide open just as his mouth and it was clear that he was caught by surprise.

Fighting back the urge to vomit, I crept forward and analyzed his corpse.

On the upper torso, the cut was clean and precise. While the lower one looked rough and shredded. Obviously the work of one of those monsters that fell from the sky. After landing, it had made its way into the apartment and sliced the man before feeding on him.

"Wait a second..." My eyes widened.

If it was eating... And this poor fellow was only half eaten...

I hurriedly got up from my kneeling position and looked for the door.

There was no door. The wooden door was on the floor, shattered and splintered. The only reason why I hadn't noticed the door was missing was because the corridor was dark. Expecting the lights to be on, I automatically assumed that the dark room meant that the door was closed.

Immediately after my realization, the clattering of multiple legs came rushing towards me. I jumped to the side and watched in horror as the concrete flooring was shredded by a pair of long sabers.

"Ohhhh FUCK!"

Screaming in panic, I fired a single round in the general direction of the enemy and the bullet pinged off the intruder's armor with a spark or two. Stopping it's charge and coming to a stop, it revealed itself.

It was a two meter tall flower mantis. Despite lacking the beautiful colors of the original, this one was a completely a dirty white, like white mixed with yellow, I somehow immediately knew what it was. And instead of the regular pinser-like arms a normal mantis boasted, this one had scythe-like one.

After turning opaque for a second to reveal itself to me as if to say 'Hi. This is what will kill you', it turned transparent yet again with a little growl and rushed forward.

It was barely visible. It was only because of the dim yellow light coming from its core that I was able to see it and react accordingly before getting skewered through the gut.

Jumping to the side again, I felt a slight jab on my stomach and noticed that I had collided with the wooden table and several splinters were stuck on my armor.

I levelled my rifle at the creature in a practiced movement. My rifle can only fire once every two seconds. And yes, that seems pathetic but what it lacked in rate if fire, it more than made up for it in accuracy and firepower.

Breathe.

The mantis got up on it's legs after collapsing like an idiot from it's failed charge.

Aim.

Righting itself, its core glowed and it formed a torrent of wind like a jet turbine from its abodomen to push itself foward.

Fire.

The bullet flew true and collided effectively with the mantis, it's claws centimeters away from my body.

With the core, damaged, the glow dimmed till it was little more than a a quickly fading LED. The mantis' body lay limp and opaque on the ground. Camouflage forgotten.

To be honest, this is the first time I've seen one like this. The only times I came face to face with an Element, which was what the JSDF called them, was when I was still with a battle group. These creatures melted under concentrated fire and their bodies disintegrated the moment their cores were shattered. So seeing one like this, fighting it one-on-one, and winning, was a major accomplishment to me at least.

The mantis trembled and tried to raise it's claws to attack but lacked the energy to do so. The cores must be something like a heart to them. If it was damaged, their functionality will be reduced.

"Shhhh boy."

Placing the barrel of my rifle at it's chest, I fired a single round to shatter the Elements' core. The rest of its body broke apart like broken glass.

I dropped onto the bean bag pillow. That fight didn't last long but when the adrenaline rush wore off, the sudden return of normal senses really threw one off.

Oh yeah! My armor.

Looking at my stomach area, I saw a few pieces of wood sticking to it. Combat Kazoku armor was different from the match armor.

Match armor is used for competition and stuff while combat is for... Use your brain.

The main differences were that the helmet for combat is more angular, giving a more hostile and 'fiercer' expression while the body armor was generally the same as the new Academy City modified JSDF infantry that was again, basically match armor with less gel and more carbon plates. This difference was evident from the way it looked as well. While the match armor had a very skin-like look, combat armor had the gel sandwiched between two carbon plates allowing for a more sleek and stylish look. It also helped bounce low velocity rounds and shrapnel.

"Hmph."

My helmet visor was also upgraded. Better visibility, better communication system and some new system called 'Auto contrasting' which basically made dark things darker and light things lighter.

I peeped out of the doorway. My earlier fight must have attracted some attention. A gunshot was not soft. But then again, with the incessant smashing of falling stars colliding with the ground, even a tank was rather quiet. Let alone a gun.

Moving slowly on my tiptoes, I crept as quickly as I could towards the other end of the apartment, all the while looking out for danger and analyzing how the earlier fight played out.

Now that I think about it, the mantis had barely used it's ability. It's control of wind.

The last time I fought one was when I was with a team of five.

That mantis had straighter, smoother armor and came equipped with attacking arms that were identical to a real praying mantis unlike that flower mantis. It was also much larger. Coming in at four meters tall, it was twice as large as the flower mantis.

It had concealed itself with wind that dissipated upon receiving fire but had avoided detection rather efficiently, managing to stay hidden even when we were barely a meter away. Snapping foward with its arms and catching two of my teammates, severing them in neat halves was the main reason why we noticed it.

After burning through most of our ammunition, we managed to damage it's core, stunning it. A lucky hit from the soldier behind me shattered the core but he was burnt to a crisp by some worm-shaped creature.

I managed to get away by sheer luck, the last remaining soldier taking a hit for me and giving me a thumbs up before getting eaten. It will be a lifelong regret of mine that I never got to thank him.

I came to a stop behind a windowsill. It had a rustic look. Made of a dark wood. Reina would like it.

"Ugh..." I clutched my chest. Just thinking of her made it tighten painfully.

'Calm down.'

Deep breath in.

Deep breath out.

Looking out the window again, the area was still evidently clear but one could never tell with the Elements prowling the area.

Thinking back on my experiences with the Elements, I came to a sudden realization that seemed impossibly obvious.

"The bigger they are, the better they are at controlling their element?" I said out loud and accidentally kicked a pebble. As I started to move out of a hole in the wall.

Pebble-kun flew threw the air, landed on the hard concrete floor, bounced and came to a sudden stop at middle of the brick floor.

Oh... Fuck.

The air seemed to warp and suddenly, I came face to face with a green light the shape of a triangular rock.

A very bright green one.

And a really big one at that.

If there was one thing I learnt, it would be 'The brighter the light, the bigger and harder to kill it would be'.

"Shit! Shit! Fuck! WHY?!"

I pointed my rifle at the Element's general direction and pulled the trigger. The bullet whizzed through the air and merely bounced off with a flash of sparks.

Time to run.

Sprinting through the apartment complex, I went in a straight line, running past several other small Elements that revealed itself but ignoring them. When I came out the other side of the building, I looked around. The other small Elements were hot on my tail.

Ladder.

Picking it up and firing a shot at the doorway as a short deterrent, I managed to set it against the wall of a neighbouring building and climbed up to the third story.

My lungs burnt. My legs hurt. This really bad. My body was doing all it could to get me to stop moving and rest but my mind had other ideas.

If I can get to the roof, I'll be able to signal for help and have a good look around.

My body agreed with the plan and the pain dulled ever so slightly.

I wiped sweat off my brow. The climb was long and arduous. But overall it was more annoying than anything to say the least.

"Whew. That was a long climb. Eighteen stories... Fucking hell..."

Looking up to the sky told me one thing immediately - the relentless attack was slowing. According to headquarters, the attack had been concentrated on Tokyo and everything in a large radius. I wouldn't be surprised if it covered half of Japan. Or at least a good number of the major cities.

The rooftop was shabby. Old, dusty air-conditioning units and paint that was peeling off. Piles of rubbish and spray paint designs lined the walls filled the nooks and crannies. The floor, covered with a thin layer of gravel was cracked concrete. It seems like the owners knew that the roof was in bad condition and filled the area with gravel to conceal it.

*Crick* *Crush*

Ah this sound is annoying. But at least most Elements won't find me here. So far, none of them have displayed any ability to work with advanced mechanisms or climb stairs.

HAHA! THEY HATED STAIRS!

Eh?

I stopped dead in my tracks.

It's gone?

The Element that I ran from... Was... Gone? Even the smaller ones that were chasing me are missing.

Where the heck are they...

A flash of greenish light.

Seemingly ignoring the laws of physics, the air tore itself apart. An Element emerging from the ground. What I had seen earlier was simply the core attached on its head. The rest of the Jody was hidden underground.

I tapped my helmet.

"Hey... Team six... Are you guys grouped up?"

My reply was instantaneous.

"Hai. Iwao, where are you? Are you alright? We were just leaving after taking out a few Elements... We thought you were dead." A familiar voice replied worriedly.

"I'm fine, Maho. Call H-Q for me would ya? There's a big ass Element here."

I continued to watch the large Element rise from the earth. It seemed to take the shape of an Alligator or Crocodile. Core situated on the top of its snout. The very placement of its weak point reeked of overconfidence. And it will be exploited.

"How big?"

I heard gunfire coming from her side.

"Bigger than an apartment building. Green light. Crocodile shape."

Short explainations and descriptions worked best with Maho. That was one of the reasons why Reina loved teasing her so much.

"Mm. Sounds scary. Air-force will be sending in air support soon. That shower is dying down."

Shower? Did she mean the meteor shower?

The sky was still filled with falling stars. But it was obviously reducing in density. Good thing too~

"Whaaaaa?!" I screamed as I lost my balance and fell off the side of the building. It wasn't because I had weak legs. It was because the ground was shaking... Well, the building was shaking.

Managing to grab hold of a small ledge, I saved myself from a deadly fall. I am such an idiot for standing on the edge.

"Iwao!" Maho shrieked through the radio upon hearing the scream. "What happened?! Are you alright?!"

I held onto the ledge for dear life.

"I'm... Fine..."

"What happened?!"

I heard my rifle hit the floor with a loud crack. Its probably gone by now. Three years of work only to go like this? He deserves a better death.

"I fell... Just hanging off a ledge for a moment..."

The building continued to shake, soon becoming a sway. This is bad.

"Which one?!" Maho continued to ask for my location and gave orders to a JSDF radioman to lock onto my location from my radio signal.

"Oi Iwao! Answer me!"

I pulled myself up. Muscles straining from the extra weight of the armor and my general lack of arm strength. It was a personal record of mine to hold on for so long. Even more so with armor on but I'm sure it's just an effect of the adrenaline.

However, I could feel my arms quickly giving out. My fingers were turning numb and I could hardly hold on. Much less pull myself up.

"Sorry Onee-chan."

"What?! Iwao! Don't you dare do anything stupid!"

Maho's voice was a complete opposite to how she usually sounded. Normally, she carried herself like a princess or heiress and showed little no emotion except when she was with Reina or me. Even with her mom, she was generally silent. Now, she was screaming, her voice sounding on the verge of tears judging from the gasps and rather frequent voice-cracks.

My heart tightened a little when I heard her like this. She was like my sister and I, her brother. It was a bond that even Reina and I didn't have.

"Sorry, Onee-chan... I lov-"

A strong vibration from the bottom the building rushed up to the roof. The foundation has cracked. My fingers lost their fragile grip on that tiny, bird shit covered ledge and I fell off.

With that final thought that the bird shit was rather disgusting and it was a wonder that I hadn't taken any notice to it till now, the building collapsed.

~~~~~~~~Last Order~~~~~~~~

"Okay children, settle down."

Sensei was trying quite hard to get everyone to keep quiet. Its her fault actually. Making everyone excited.

She was young too. A bit like Worst-nee...

My chest tightened for some weird reason and I started tearing up when I remembered mama saying that she won't be coming back.

"Manami! Are you okay?" Fremea asked while playing with her beetle keychain.

I quickly wiped away my tears and forced a smile. Worst-nee will never cry. She's always strong and sometimes annoying but that's because she's Worst. Papa said that I should be as strong ad I could so that Worst-nee will be happy.

"Mm!"

Fremea cocked her head and frowned. She always knew if something was wrong. It is sometimes scary but she's a good friend so I don't mind.

"You wanna come over to my house for a while later? Sogiita-nii is coming to pick me since Mugino is busy." Fremea grinned and tugged my sleeve.

"I don't mind... Manami smiles." I smiled. Fremea always finds a way to make me happy.

The bell rang suddenly. It signified freedom and happiness. School is over.

Sensei sweatdropped rather spectacularly and waved her arm lazily to send us out. To which of course we happily complied.

We arrived at the main gate and saw Sogiita-nii standing on the fence. His headband waving wildly in the wind and his arms crossed over his singlet that had a rising sun design. It is a sight that will remain odd to me no matter how many times I see it. A boy standing on a fence of a child care. Doesn't it make you laugh a little?

When he saw us, he dropped his serious expression and jumped down, running towards us.

"Hello Last Order! Is Yuri-nee coming to pick you? Or Misa-chan or Miko-chan?" He had a really hopeful face whenever he said Mikoto-nee's name. I think he has a crush on her or something. They hardly met but when they did, he was always staring at her.

But still, now that I think about it... I have completely forgotten who was supposed to pick me today. I closed my eyes in concentration in a bid to remember.

Yuriko is in Nagasaki. Mikoto is busy with her ship repairs, Misaka is busy watching Mikoto repair her ship so in case Mikoto decides to modify it, mama said she will be at work and papa is always at work... Is no one coming?

I tightened my eyes further and thought back.

I do remember mama saying something about Yuriko's friend... OH YEAH!

"Mm! Yuri-nee's boyfriend is coming since everyone is busy. Manami says with a grin hoping that Sogiita-nii will misunderstand." I covered my mouth in alarm. I didn't mean to say that last part. My bad habit of talking in third person with descriptions has backfired.

"Oooo misunderstand huh. Don't worry. I do not misunderstand anything. It is normal to have a boyfriend at Yuriko's age." Sogiita grinned and patted Fremea head before slinging her bag over his shoulder and carrying her up on piggyback.

"Well, if you want, you come over with us. I can call your mama to let her know." He offered.

"No thank you, Manami replies courteously. Manami will await Yuriko-nee's boyfriendfriend and pressure him to buy Manami some ice cream." I explained my plot to him.

"Ah... I see. Alright! See you!" "See you!"

The two of them waved before Sogiita ran off as fast as a car. He is really fit.

"Ah..."

I sat down on a bench in the school's waiting area. I will await Yuriko-nee's boyfriend.

* * *

"Manami, do you know this boy?" Sensei asked.

I looked up from my project of making a tank out of Legos. It was fun but I never was able to make a moving one like Miko-nee did. She made a moving Lego Maus before. It was a birthday present for me.

The boy that stood at the doorway to the childcare had messy brown hair and was covered in sweat and panting. His school uniform was crumpled and in certain areas, was soaked with sweat. He nodded and cringed at the glare sensei gave him.

"Mmhmm! Manami knows him she says happily. She is Yuri-nee's boyfriend." I smiled and started packing the toys.

"Oh? Yuriko's boyfriend?" Sensei smirked and squatted beside me. "You can go off now. I'll keep these for you."

"Really? Manami asks with an uncertain voice." I asked uncertainly.

Sensei is always strict and I have never seen her let someone off without making them clean up.

"Yeah. You can go. It's been two hours already. I bet you're tired." Sensei patted my head and smiled warmly.

I beamed back at her and ran off to grab my bag and shoes.

"Thank you sensei! Manami thanks sensei and goes out with Kano-nii."

"Its fine. See you tomorrow Manami!"

I run past the entrance and reached the gate in no time. The sun was already setting. Kano-nii really took a long time to get here. Even the crickets were starting to sing. I closed my eyes and tried to feel the nature around me like Misa-nee told me to do every once in a while. Sometimes I remember to do so but sometimes I don't. The evening breeze was kinda strong and it made the tree branches rustle and birds made all kinds of weird noises as they flew back to their nests… And that's about it. I am not good at feeling this kind of stuff.

"Last Order. Please don't run… I'm tired enough as it is. And pass me your bag, I'll carry it for you." Kano-nii wheezed out as he chased after me.

Ah! I still haven't asked him why he is so late.

"Kano-nii. Why are you so late?" I placed my hands on my hips like Miko-nee always does when she's angry. To be honest, I wasn't angry since I could play in the childcare for a few more hours. Sensei is really nice too, not like the ones in school who are always angry at something. "And why did you look so scared of sensei? She is very nice. Manami asks hoping for a honest reply."

He scratched his head and made a defeated look.

"My phone ran out of battery and I got lost on the way here so I had to go around asking for directions and got even more lost because they thought I was looking for another childcare with almost the same name on the other side of town."

That explains his tired look. Hehe at least he is honest. No wonder Yuri-nee likes him. I saw her looking wistfully at a picture of them together under an umbrella the other day. She is horrible at hiding things. Like her coffee addiction. It's a wonder than mama hasn't noticed that almost all of Yuri-nee's lunch money is spend on canned coffee every day.

"Okay! But as compensation for being so late, Manami wants ice cream!"

"Hai, hai." He sweatdropped a little. Mama probably warned him about my love for ice cream but I hoped for the best. "You know, your mom told me not to buy any for you because you eat far too much of it but since I'm so late, I'll break the rules."

My eyes widened. I never thought he would be so kind! I never got ice cream when my sisters picked me up. They always chopped me on the head and dragged me home when I asked.

"Thank you Kano-nii! Can you pick me from school every day? Manami asks hoping that you will agree so Manami can get more ice cream… Oops." I covered my mouth. My bad habit has revealed my plot. I closed my eyes tightly and prepared myself for a chop on the head like Yuri-nee always gave me when I revealed my plans for getting more ice cream.

Instead of the chop on the head I was expecting, he ruffled my hair and laughed.

"Sorry Last Order. As much as I would like to do that, this is a one-time thing. It's only because your sisters and your mom are busy that I came to pick you."

I squealed in delight and hugged his arm. Now I know why Yuri-nee liked him so much. A nice guy that gives ice cream to someone when they deserve it is a good person. Yuri-nee has a good boyfriend.

Suddenly, a flash of light caught my eye.

It was high up in the sky and orangey.

"Kano-nii… What is that? Manami asks." I pointed up in the sky. I noticed a lot of other people were doing that too. And some pointed their phones up in the sky to take pictures.

"… I have no idea…"

Kano-nii had a troubled expression but he soon changed it and smiled.

"Don't worry. It's probably nothing. Let's go get your ice cream!"

"Mm!"

* * *

Chocolate ice cream is the best. Sweet, but not so and lacked the minty aftertaste some others had and is superior in every way compared to any other flavor. Now, when placed atop a waffle that was sitting on a hot-plate, cooking in butter and maple syrup, it was literally heaven on earth.

"How is it?" Kano-nii asked amusedly.

"Good! Manami keeps her answer short so she can enjoy her food."

I continued to stare at my food and ignored my surroundings. Nothing else mattered when ice cream is concerned. As a result, I didn't notice Kano-nii's face light up in alarm and grab a nearby table to use as a shield.

Something hit the front of the shop and a huge dust cloud engulfed the store. A lot of people were coughing and screaming and I sensed the heat of fire. Luckily for me, Kano-nii was smart to use the table as a shield and saved me from behind his by flying bits of glass and wood.

"What happened?! Manami asks in alarm." I asked in alarm.

"Last Order, sorry to interrupt your meal but we gotta run." Kano-nii spoke calmly and carried me on piggy back. "Leave your bag. We can buy the stuff again another day."

I grabbed my phone from the front pocket and looped the strap on my wrist so I won't lose it. Kano-nii's phone is out of battery so I will need it to call mama.

"Mmm."

As he carried me and ran into the kitchen so he could come out of the back door of the store, I heard a few loud cracks that pierced my eardrums and made them hurt. A woman screamed loudly but was suddenly cut off. The kitchen was also empty. Most of the workers had already run out of the back door or went to the front to help.

Kano-nii ran out the back door and closed it before running off towards a cluster of large buildings. One of them read "Dianoid" in large letters. I haven't been in there before but it looked really big…

Something large and white flew down from the sky and crashed into the building… but it barely even shuddered and took the hit without difficulty.

It's really strong too. Maybe that's why Kano-nii wants to run in there.

I craned my neck backwards and looked at the store we had just run out of. It was covered with a cloud of black smoke and a fire was raging from within. Suddenly, I was hit by the realization that most of the people in there hadn't run out with Kano-nii… Were they… Dead?

A few more of the loud cracks came from the left and I saw a few soldiers holding long guns shooting at something on my right. Kano-nii and I both looked at what they were shooting.

It was almost invisible apart from a large blue glowing stone. The stone was quite high up in the air and the air around it seemed to shimmer.

A soldier holding a gun was right beside it and was trying to shoot the big blue stone but was sent flying by some invisible object. His body flew towards the big Dianoid building and a splash of blood covered the wall when he slid off. His pistol slid in front of Kano-nii and he stopped running for a second to pick it up before continuing his dash towards the Dianoid.

I continued to watch the blue stone.

After a few more bullets hit it, the stone glowed brighter and revealed a giant sea scorpion as large as a bus. I managed to identify what it was thanks to Misa-nee showing me all of those books about prehistoric creatures. It was completely colored a dirty white and its claws were as large as motorcycles.

It shrieked loudly and pointed its tail towards the soldiers who were now taking cover behind cars before releasing a powerful jet of water than sent the cars flying. My heart leaped at the loud crash and explosions and I buried my face in Kano-nii's hair, scared to look.

At the same time it fired, Kano-nii entered the Dianoid and started running up the escalators to the third floor.

"Last Order, are you okay? You saw quite a few things you shouldn't have."

I nodded. Now that I wasn't in immediate danger, the full magnitude of what happened hit me. All those people outside… were they dead?

"Kano-nii… Are the people outside like Worst-nee? Are they gone forever?"

He frowned a little and hugged me as tears flowed from my eyes like tears.

"It'll be fine. I won't let anything happen to you alright?"

~~~~~~~~~Haimura~~~~~~~~

I held Last Order as closely as I could to my chest. The girl has seen things that even I felt like vomiting from. Things that a child her age should never see.

My shirt started to get wet as her tears seeped into the material, wetting it. I stroked her head which seemed to calm her a little.

The screams seem to be getting louder by the second and gun fire was decreasingly scarce. Looks like the JSDF has mobilized rather quickly... Though they haven't proven themselves to be effective.

That creature from earlier... It was unaffectedly by conventional firearms and had used some kind of ability related to water. Firing a water jet powerful enough to lift a bus is something even the most powerful water jets I've seen are unable to do... And it did so with such ease.

I shook off those negative thoughts. If I die here, I have to make sure Last Order will be fine.

"Last Order, I'm going to take you to a safer area... If that is fine with you."

She merely nodded into my chest.

Despite her age, she is very mature considering her reactions to what happened earlier. If I were in her position, I have no doubt that I would barely be able to function. Let alone listen to and answer the questions posed to me.

I picked her up and carried her. The pistol the soldier dropped fit snugly in my butt pocket... Not that I knew how to use it.

We ran through the empty hallways. Most of the people in the mall had either run out or have gone into hiding in various places.

Walking past a sports store, I picked up a baseball bat to use as a weapon... Probably useless but the weight of it reassured me a little. More so than the pistol I have no experience with.

*Click*

I jolted backwards from the direction of the sound. It sounded like a piece of metal hitting marble.

*Chirp*

A chirp?

As I cocked my head in confusion, a two meter tall lobster appeared from a shop. The stood tall, most of its dirty white body hidden within the boutique. It's claws were stained red and it had no visible eyes.

Also, unlike a real lobster, the shell on this one was completely smooth. Unlike a real lobster that had spikes or grooves. Its claws also weren't blunt but were less like claws and more like scissors.

Finally, the only part that wasn't white was a black, crystal-like emblem on its chest, right under where it's jaw should be. It had a single, blue water droplet shape on it that glowed dimly under the mall's fluorescent lights.

"Last Order, run to that store over there. Hide." I told her as calmly as I could and set her on the ground, letting her run.

"Will Kano-nii be alright? Manami asks in concern." She asked uncertainly. It was obvious that she was contemplating staying with me and running and having a hard choice at that.

Her eyes were visibly tearing up too. She knew what was going to happen.

I did too.

"Go. I'll beat this thing then join you alright?" I smiled.

She nodded and started running.

I turned back to the lobster. It growled and chirped once before its core glowed and it turned invisible. Though it wasn't as effective as the one outside, as I could still make out the shape of the lobster. But it was like looking at the air over a fire. Blurry, but still almost invisible apart from the glowing core that was now seemingly floating in the air.

I took out the pistol from my pocket and hefted my baseball bat.

The soldiers outside were obviously aiming for the core of the creature. The light on its chest.

I tightened my grip. If I block the claw with the bat and shot point blank at the core, I'd have a chance to survive.

With a finalizing shriek, the lobster charged forward, the sound of its legs tapping on the ground giving it away.

~~~~~~~~~Mikoto~~~~~~~~~

Why is it so hot?

I wiped the sweat of my brow and jumped when the arm of the robot I was controlling hit the cockpit.

"Mikoto. Be careful." Misaka spoke to me through an earpiece. Hurry up and replace the magnet."

"Hai."

I moved my hand foward and the robot's arm mimicked my movements, grabbing a damaged magnet from the railgun's electromagnet array.

The robot I am operating is called the External Mechanical Assistant. Often shortened to Exo-suit. It is literally, a box. With arms and legs sticking out. I'm not kidding.

Usually used in construction and repair work, sometimes for transporting goods or carrying furniture, this box on legs is truly, am amazing all-rounded robot.

The box body is the cockpit where the pilot will stand in special boots that are attached to the legs of the robot and full arm length gloves. This allows the pilot to have freedom of movement and control the robot by simply moving their arms and legs.

"So where do I put this?"

"Over there." Misaka pointed at an open area on the deck of the Railgun.

As soon as I placed it down, a crane from the dock reached over to pick up the magnet while another crane put down a new one.

"Put it back in then you can do whatever you want." Misaka winked and gave me a thumbs up.

I grinned maniacally. Whenever she said that, it means that I was free to modify the weapon in any way I liked.

"Thank you imouto!"

Hastily reattaching the magnet, I deactivated the robot and climbed out. I grabbed my toolbox and slid under the weapon to change some of the internal mechanisms.

Hmm... If I switch that wire with that one and plug the mains directly into the array...

"Onee-san. Are you done? Everyone is done with cleaning and has gone back."

Misaka's voice broke me out of my trance.

"What time is it?" I fiddled with the firing mechanism a little.

If I make the initial velocity of the round higher, the magnets will accelerate it to high speeds... Right?

"It's almost six."

Hmm... But that wire doesn't work... I need a bigger one... Wait... SIX?!

"ITS SIX?!" I screamed at her with half my body buried inside the weapon.

"Yes. We need to go home soon... Hold tightly to your tools."

Oh shit... She's gonna do that again. I gathered my tools and braced myself. Cold hands wrapped themselves around my ankles and pulled.

"Ow... You pulled too hard. I hit my head back there." I complained.

"Serves you right for taking so long. What were you trying to do this time."

"Uuuuuuuuu... Just trying to increase the initial velocity of the round so it can be accelerated to higher speeds."

She raised an eyebrow.

"And you intend to do that without a powered suit? The cables weigh a few hundred kilograms."

I smirked.

"I used the smaller ones to change the wiring of the entire circuit so the big ones don't need to move but their connections are still changed."

She facepalmed and clapped her hands, calling Dog to come to her from his perch on one of the cannons.

"That is a very roundabout method Onee-san. And most people will have no idea what you are talking about given your horrible explaination."

"Well," I clapped my hands together and hugged her from behind. "You're my imouto and you know how I do things so it should be no problem for you."

Dog came running to Misaka and climbed onto my head.

"Hahahaha Dog! Don't lick my ear!"

The reason why we called our cat 'Dog' was because of Misaka's horrible sense of humor... And because he acted like one sometimes.

Hmm? Misaka has stopped protesting and was meekly accepting my hug.

"Misaka... Why are you so quiet?"

I buried my face in her hair and sniffed. She hardly sweat so her hair still smelled like shampoo. Ah... She used the grapefruit one mom bought yesterday.

Misaka continued to stay silent and even Dog meowed softly and pawed her head.

Just then, I had a notion to what happened.

Raising a hand to her cheek, I asked "Misakaaaaaaaa are you... BLUSHING?!" The moment my finger stroked her soft cheek, I could immediately tell just by the heat of her face.

"S-stop it Onee-san. This is embarrassing. What if someone sees us and gets the wrong idea?"

So THAT'S why she's so embarrassed. My cute imouto is the cutest.

"It'll be alright. Yuri is fine once in a while." Dog licked Misaka's ear in agreement.

With both me and her pet deciding to be clingy, she gave up and simple accepted the hug as a sign of familial love. Ever since Reina left, all us had felt that bonding time is more important than ever.

We stood there for a few short minutes before Dog noticed something in the sky. He notified us to his discovery by tickling us with his tail and hissing at the sky.

"Hmm? What is it Dog?"

We both looked up towards the sky that Dog was hissing at.

Bright lines shot downwards like meteors. And there were hundreds, maybe thousands of them. Most of them fell towards the City but more than just a few came towards the docks. Several hit a nearby storehouse and destroyed it in a spectacular explosion.

"Misaka! Come!" I pulled Dog off my head and held him under my arm while pulling Misaka along.

If a single one of them hit the ship, we would be dead in seconds.

One step, two steps... We were almost at the edge of the deck. Just one more step and we can get to relative safety on land.

I looked behind me and saw a single meteor coming towards the Railgun.

"!"

A strong gale force wind pushed the three of us from behind and we shot towards a concrete wall at high speeds before being stopped by a cushion of air.

"What..." Misaka started.

"Happened?" I finished.

That could not be coincidence. If the wind was a coincidence, I would believe it happily but the cushion of air was another thing. It simply isn't possible for it to occur naturally.

Three growls came from the fires of the destroyed warehouse.

A silhouette of a large moth, a praying mantis and a truly gigantic dragonfly appeared in contrast to the fires. In the center of each one, a glowing yellow cloud floated in the air.

"The hell?"

Those things looked dangerous. Best not go near them. I looked behind me. Contrary to what I was expecting, a meteor had not hit the Railgun. Instead, it was unharmed. Two more came towards the ship but veered off their course and crashed into the ocean.

"Mikoto... We should go into the ocean." Misaka said quietly.

"What about Dog? He hates water."

"He will have to deal with it."

I considered our choices. Going into the ocean would mean drowning if those creatures stayed there and waited for us while going onto the ship would still be dangerous. All weapons were unarmed and it will take time to fix and start up the railgun.

Time we did not have.

The dragonfly silhouette screamed deafeningly and rushed towards us. It's invisible body turned a dirty white for a split second before hitting it's with its face. Well, eyes. It's eyes were easily took up more than half of its face. It's mandibles took the rest.

Misaka and I hugged each other in fear. Dog in-between us. We are going to die here aren't we?

An ear-piercing screech that sounded like metal scratching glass replaced the dragonfly's scream. A loud thud followed by more animalistic screams being cut off one-by-one followed.

I peeked out with one eye.

The dragonfly was gone and in it's place, glass-like shards covered the ground. The places where the moth and praying mantis were were also covered with the same glass.

And more importantly, a tall figure stood in front of us.

The figure wore some futuristic armor that was designed to look like samurai armor. The face plate however, was replaced by a single, plain, opaque visor that covered his or her face. A long almost two meter long sword was slung on its back and in it's hand, it held something a bit like a lance.

The main reason why I say it was a bit like a lance is because it's much more accurate to call it a sword attached to a pole. The blade was far longer than anything practical and at the handle of the sword where it was attached to the pole, an axe head was attached.

It's armor was coloured black with yellow highlights and on its chest, a yellow cloud symbol glowed brightly. The design of it was the most intriguing of all.

Everything from the helmet down to the boots looked exactly like a real samurai's armor apart from slight differences that showed its futuristic capabilities.

The figures helmet moved and it's greeted us in a low but obviously female voice.

"I am Three. I govern the wind. Will you assist me in getting rid of my Master?"

~~~~~~~~~Yuriko~~~~~~~~~~

Ugh... More of those creatures?

I stumbled and fell to my knees in the thick mud.

Most of my energy had been consumed by cushioning the plane's fall. And now, a god damn army of lizards and worms that spewed fire was chasing me.

My grey wings swung like giant hammers, beating down and destroying the creatures. But their numbers only grew despite me eliminating them by the dozens.

Every now and then, a meteor was come spiralling down from the sky, about to hit the plane or me and I had to use more energy to reflect it.

A loud roar come from one of the airport terminals. A creature as large as a jumbo jet stood atop the rubble and glared down at me.

Even from that distance it can see me?

It looked exactly like a dinosaur... I'm not sure which since I have no interest in those things but shapes don't matter. What matters is that a torrent of flames was rushing towards me at the speed of fucking sound.

I tried to summon my wings again and visualized a vector equation to reflect the heat from the flames away from both me and the plane to my left.

I failed.

My wings materialized for a split second before a mind numbing pain in my stomach broke my concentration, leaving me gasping for air on the floor.

I closed my eyes, preparing for the worst.

'At least everyone else is unconscious' I thought to myself before the fire washed over me.

Except.

It didn't.

Even after waiting for three seconds, I still felt no heat.

I pried open my eyes and saw a dark figure with an oval helmet and knightly plate armor standing before me.

It held no weapon but a red rod extended from its right hand. A red fire symbol glowed brightly on its chest and pulsed every second or so.

Behind him, a massive dragon-like beast that seemed to be made of fire awaited his orders. Strangely, it did not emit heat even though the grass beneath its flaming legs burned.

It had scythes for arms and five meter long wings that extended from its back. Its feet alone were as large as cars and its tail ended in a blade. Armor sprouted from its legs, arms and back to protect the elbow, knees and wings.

Some of the creatures I was fighting earlier released scattered fire attacks but they were absorbed by the figure's red rod.

The figure made a gesture with his hand and the massive dragon accurately and efficiently destroyed all the other creatures before transforming into a small lizard on the figure's shoulder.

I stayed in my kneeling position in shock and awe. And more than a little fear.

With my power gone I could never hope to survive an attack from this guy...?

The figure offered a hand, asking for a handshake.

"I am One. I am the embodiment and the governor of fire. I have seen your talents and humbly ask for your assistance to eliminate my master."

~~~~~~~~~Iwao~~~~~~~~~~~

Ah I'm gonna be crushed...?

My back was on the floor and the entire building was... Floating above me. As if held up by something.

"I am Four." A mechanical voice came from my left.

To my amazement, a figure clad in boxy armor held up the entire building with one hand and looked at me. It's armor painted completely black with green highlights and a green rock symbol glowed brightly on its chest.

Its helmet visor was opaque but displayed a green crosshairs that probably showed where it was looking as it moved in many directions. In its free hand, the figure held a large machine gun that looked more appropriate to be mounted on an armored car.

For a second, I considered it to be a robot. But I noticed the figure's chest moving. There was a person inside all of that metal? And what kind of suit was that? Allowing someone to hold up a thousand ton building with one hand was bullshit.

"I govern the Earth. As in the element, not the planet."

Hearing its voice again, I immediately categorized it as a 'he'.

He cracked his neck before asking me a question.

"Will you help me eliminate my master?"

~~~~~~~~Haimura~~~~~~~~~

My arm can't hold up long… I glared at the baseball bat that was holding a giant claw away from my face just centimeters away. The other claw had sliced me and the lobster was preparing to swing it down as a club.

It's now or never.

"Ahhhh!"

I pushed the pistol at the core of the lobster and pulled the trigger.

The creature shuddered with each hit and after the third bullet, the core shattered and it exploded into shards of glass.

I dropped my weapons and grimaced at the baseball bat that was cut in half.

"Kano-nii! You're bleeding!" Last Order came running towards me and stopped just away from me.

My left arm was bleeding copiously and the speed at which it was cut was so fast that my brain hadn't caught up with it. Adrenaline probably played no small part in that too. I have no idea how much pain I'd be in when my sense of pain returns.

"AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! I AM IMPRESSED!"

Loud clapping and laughing came from behind me and I turned.

A young girl around my age with pink hair in long bangs that covered one eye clapped her hands and guffawed loudly. The rest of her hair was tied up in a side ponytail that was swinging around in tandem with her laughs. One of her eyes was red, just like Yuriko but her other eye was an interesting grey.

She had a long sword hanging from her waist and two shorter ones slung on her back. A pistol was holstered on each of her thighs.

Her hands were covered with black fingerless gloves and she wore black armored boots that somehow went along well with her loose blue T-shirt that seemed three sizes too big and showed off one of her shoulders along with a bra strap. To complete her delinquent look, she wore black pants that were obviously tapered to add holsters for her pistols and more pockets for magazines.

"I'd better heal that for you though. Don't want you bleeding to death after I ask you for help." She said in a carefree fashion and bounded to my side.

"Candy for you too." The girl passed a lollipop to Last Order who took it hesitantly.

The girl placed her hand on my shoulder and a blue light in the shape of a water droplet glowed on her chest.

Despite her healing my wounds, I can't help but feel wary of her presence. The symbol on her chest was identical to the ones on the creatures.

"Don't be afraid boy. And yes, I am related to the Elements." She answered my suspicions.

My eyes widened and a scurried backwards in panic. My wound had already healed in those short seconds she spent healing me.

"Ah I wasn't clear. Sorry about that. And I hope you will thank me for healing you later. Let me introduce myself before you judge me 'kay? The reason why I picked you is simple too. I'll explain right after I introduce myself."

She put a lot of emphasis on introducing herself. I guess it held a certain amount of importance.

The girl stood up straight, folded her arms and made a serious expression. A floating compass appeared beside her head and its arrow spun rapidly. After a whole three seconds, the arrow stopped, pointing south and glowing blue

"I am Two. I govern water. I require your assistance in eliminating my master. Will you help me?"

She grinned.

"It looks like I have the most interesting one out of the four of us."

* * *

A.N. And thats it haha! This one took a while to write cos exams are coming up again and i havent had the time to actually sit down and write... till yesterday AHAH.

And... I have no idea what else to say for this A.N. other than the fun starts in the next one. This is one is seriously just a build up... with more action than normal. And looking back, the last time I did something this actiony was with the Noukan arc and even my judgemental sis said ive gotten better. albeit slightly. but thats good enough for me haha!

To MarkJ and Riyangedut:Thanks for the overwhelmingly positive reviews and for sticking with all this time. Kudos!

Thanks for reading and i hoped you enjoyed it. Who do you think the Four of our new characters are based on? haha!


	22. Chapter 21

Chapter 21  
Maho Nishizumi.

I tapped the mic on my throat. It looked like a collar of sorts. In addition to recording my voice, this mic can accurately sense the vibrations coming from my voice box and convert them into words.

"Iwao. Come in you idiot." I choked on my words, tears threatening to spill from my eyes.

Even after losing radio contact with him for a good hour, I still clung stubbornly to the probability that he was fine.

I took a deep breath.

My EPA team, essentially just Erika and I, had been ordered to rendezvous with a combined JSDF and Kazoku forces which had met up after half their respective teams had been eliminated.

I wonder how mom is doing... Then again, she isn't one of the top five tankers in the world for nothing. She and her Leopard won't fall so easily. And she has a Maus in her team.

Anyway, we had met up and waited at a good position for Iwao to arrive...

At least, until he called in and told me he was sorry.

No.

I furiously denied that possibility again.

He was fine. Heck. Knowing him, he'd be fine and dandy when we find him. Drinking wine or something.

"Ahem, ma'am."

The JSDF soldier sitting on my tank shook his head with a sorry expression.

"Have you located him?" I asked hopefully despite knowing the outcome.

"Sorry ma'am. The signal is completely gone. Either the transmitter was damaged beyond repair or he's dead."

I nodded, understanding the situation. "If possible, could you continue to scan?" My tone was hopeful and maybe a little desperate but I didn't care. I would rather deal with people judging my capabilities than give up on the hope that my little brother was gone.

"Huh?" The soldier gave an unexpected reaction by whining. "But he's most likely de-"

My mood turned sour instantly and my attitude towards him changed from a mannerly one to something more suited of an officer who just got shouted at by a recruit.

He glanced at my face for a second before turning his head away as quickly as possible. He knew I was triggered by that reply. Now, I had no control over my facial expressions so I can only assume I was glaring at him like a murderer. But I felt that I was justified.

"Would you care to complete that statement? Serial code one four four seven three." I said coldly, calling him by his JSDF serial number.

No one actually called each other by their numbers unless the two had just met or a name tag was not printed onto the soldier. Plus, the only time people actually used it was during official announcements and the sort. And even then, the code was accompanied by the soldier's name.

Calling someone just by their number was something officers said to soldiers about to be court martialed.

"Hey. That's a bit far don't you think?"

My loader tugged on my pants pocket from inside the tank. Luckily, the soldier could not hear her and turned white with fear. The noise of the tank's engine drowned out her voice before it could get to his ears.

Holding the name of one of the families with the greatest history with tanks really made your words carry some weight.

"I know you're worried but you'd better keep cool, Maho."

I looked into the tank and glared into my loader's defiant eyes. Out of all my crew, only Hikari dared to do these kind of things. We'd been in the same tank since we graduated from Senshadou.

Of course, I was not as close to her as I was with Reina but we still had some history together.

"Mm. Fine." I nodded to her and returned my icy gaze to the soldier who was probably considering jumping off the tank in fear.

"Just keep looking for signals from groups that need help or are cut off from the main force." I ordered him to which he nodded frantically. "We will arrive at the airport in fifteen minutes. Prepare yourselves. The higher-ups said it's a big mess."

He nodded and turned his back to me. Unwilling to either look at me or acknowledge me. Most of the other soldiers hitching a ride on my tank did the same.

Now that I had cooled down a little, I started to regret my actions.

'It's... Always the same. Whenever I act formal, people tend to see me as stuck up or bitchy and give me such attitude…' I thought to myself.

Because I was trained to be as cold and efficient as possible from a young age, (I don't detest it in any way mind you) I often resort to using such terms to subordinates whenever I get even slightly agitated.

During the spur of the moment, I usually do not feel bad about it or get affected by their reactions. However, when my mind cools and emotions become a part of my thought processes again… I usually feel pangs of regret upon seeing their dejected or furious expressions.

Years of such treatment has left me tired and sometimes, it even aggravates me sometimes but I give it my all not to let it show. I have my family and that is all that matters. I do not need the approval of anyone else.

Well, other than my crew and a few other friends that I have known for years but that's beside the point.

I sat down in the commander's seat and tapped Hikari's shoulder.

"Mm?"

"Can you be the commander for a while? I need... A breather."

I gave her a pleading look to which she smiled sadly and nodded.

"When combat starts, you go back to being commander alright?"

I smiled in thanks.

We squeezed past each other and switched seats. I am the radio operator now... Though it's just a short-range one, incapable of doing coordinate searching like the JSDF radioman's.

I closed my eyes and leaned back on the armor. The vibrations of the tank making jolt foward every second or so and making me hit my head on the hard metal.

-/-

Why...

I did my best but still lost...

But why?

Why can't she see that I'm trying my best?!

I curled myself into an even tighter ball.

Here, in my Tiger, I was cut off from the problems of the world. My tank is my sanctuary when I am not commanding a team in a match.

I had just lost a major tournament.

Though I didn't feel terribly bad about it, since I lost to Reina of all people, my mom didn't see it that way.

'Why couldn't you beat that stupid hyperactive girl? You have been groomed your entire life to be the best at this and you couldn't even guide your team to take out half of hers.'

My mother's words rang through my mind again.

I allowed my feelings, which I kept under lock and key, to flow out of me whenever I was in my tank.

Tears streamed down my cheeks and I punched, kicked and hit the cold steel of the cabin.

As a member of the Nishizumi family, I am not allowed to show weakness to others. It only permitted moving foward. Never backing down, never missing a shot. So showing emotions to others was a taboo in my family.

'If you fail again, you will be banished. Out of three tournaments in your time in Kuromorimine. You have only won once. Once you lost to your little sister and another to a hyperactive fool. So what you won every match in middle school. If you lose so many in high school, doesn't that show that you are incapable of improvement?'

I punched the metal flooring and get a sudden burst of pain.

My knuckle had split.

Blood flowed from the wound, painting my arm and parts my white dress red.

"Why can't she accept what I am? I don't want to win. I want a good fight. Be it I win or lose..."

Heh. When I am alone I can say these things. Why am I always silent when she speaks to me? Why can't I voice my thoughts?

*Knock* *knock*

Huh? Knocking? Is that mom?

My pupils shrank in fear and I curled into a ball again. I could endure her scoldings but if she saw me crying like this... Who knows what she might do?

The knocking continued. Moving from the frontal armor to the cupola.

Go away... Go away...

Not...

Not now...

*Knock*

I closed my eyes even more tightly.

Go away...

The knocking stopped and the commander's hatch shook. But to no avail. The gunner and the loader's hatch followed but the person couldn't get in.

Good thing I locked all the hatches.

I heard footsteps on the tank. Whoever it was probably gave up. Good riddance too...

A vibration ran through the cabin.

Eh?

The engine compartment is being... Opened?

My body started quivering in place.

Was she so hard pressed to find me till she was willing to open up the entire engine compartment and force open the emergency hatches from the outside just to drag me out?

No... No more... I just need time. Why can't she give me just that one luxury?

I heard a loud clank and the hiss of hydraulic pipes.

Whoever who came is here. It should either be mom or one of the maids.

I rubbed my tear streaked face dry and mustered the most defiant face I could.

"Ugh. Maho, couldn't you have just opened the door when I knocked?"

A male voice?

"Jeez. Locking yourself in here and making me dismantle the engine armor just to get to you."

One of the emergency hatches opened and moonlight pierced through the darkness.

A man with long hair covering his face wearing a technician's uniform poked his head through and smiled.

-/-

"Commander. We have five minutes till we reach the airport. Sixteen Elements spotted outside as well."

My eyes jolted open and I locked away my memories. Now is not the time to reminisce.

"Alright. Stop the tanks. Form a barricade with the Tiger II. Cover the infantry with machine gun fire. Do not fire the main guns." I gave my orders quickly and precisely to Hikari before switching places with her where she immediately did her job and gave out the orders.

I poked my head out of the commander's hatch and spot back in.

A torrent of flames scorched the top of the tank. The heat was comparable to that of a Churchill crocodile with a vengeance. A prickly feeling that washed over my face and I covered it with an arm.

The flames soon subsided and gun fire replaced it. Compared to the roaring flames, the pit-pat of gunfire paled in comparison... Though it was another story when you were right beside the gun.

I peeked out of the tank from one of the slits on the turret. I could just as easily use the camera system since this is an upgraded tank but doing things manually was a habit from my time in school.

The battlefield around us was alight with tracer rounds flying against the occasional ball of fire or jet of water.

A flash of fren light. One of those rock ones are here. Instead of releasing fire, water or creating strong winds, these fire rocks from either their mouths, limbs or specialized body parts.

"Alright. Turn the turret. Change position from barricade to diamond. Make sure we can't get hit by any ricochets from Erika. Tell the soldiers to be extra safe too."

Hikari nodded and got on with her work.

I placed my hand on my gunner's shoulder.

"Alright. Fire on the green one."

"The one in-between the two blues?" She asked with an annoyed tone.

Ever since Kotone missed a few game winning shots, she always got slightly pissed when I told her to do any sniping. Then again, her forte was extreme long range sniping as opposed to short range, high speed firing that we often had to make do with.

"Yeah. Can you make the shot?"

"I'll take out one of the blues along with it."

I raised an eyebrow. Element armor was tougher than even tank armor. Even more so for the larger ones... Maybe except for the Maus. That thing was a bunker on treads.

From inside the turret, I can barely make out their shapes and all I had was the light of their cores to determine how large and how dangerous they were~

"!"

The entire tank shook.

"Ricochet!" My driver shouted. "The guy is big."

"Erika says she can't get a good shot in. And the guys behind us are about to get flanked by blues." Hikari notified me.

Not even a day into the conflict, there were already universal acronyms for the different enemies. Not that it was hard to discern them even if you hadn't heard them before.

A low vibration accompanied with a roar of thunder came from the tank beside us. Erika's tank had fired a round at our target but a smaller red one took the hit instead, shattering into a million pieces.

"Erika is screaming profanities right now." Hikari laughed a little. The rest of my crew did as well.

Was a known fact among our teams that Erika has a really short fuse.

"How do you know though?" Kotone asked Hikari in-between roars from the two co-axial machine guns.

The original Tiger had only one at the front but remember, this is a Tiger that has been modified to be on par with Leopard 2s and even the Abrams series tanks. Even the famous flak 88 that the Tiger was known for had been replaced by a 128mm smoothbore gun.

"I could hear her from the radio." Hikari giggled a little as the rest of my crew burst into laughter again.

I smiled. I didn't interfere and get them to be serious. Yes, we are in the middle of a life or death battle and yes, our enemy has a good chance of massacring us. But a calm crew always works better than a crew an the brink of breakdown.

"Kotone." My calm voice cut through their laughter, making them go into serious mode again. "Can you nail it if we stop for a second?"

She nodded grimly.

"Sure I can."

I nodded in return. What I was about to do could be either be a winning move or could spell the deaths of this entire unit.

"Hikari. Tell the infantry to get behind Erika and take cover."

Another hit shook the tank violently.

"Holy... Fuck..." My loader, Hatsune mumbled.

I raised an eyebrow at the use of profanities in my tank. Just as I was about to reprimand her about it, I noticed that the armor near her head had caved in.

Dismissing the matter, I tapped my driver's shoulders with my boot.

"Rosa, can you ram the two blues protecting that green one?"

"Of course."

The maneuver we were about to do was one that we had practiced several times after we had almost been beaten by a fellow EPA team during a match.

They had placed a tank destroyed behind several heavies and mediums, using them as a literal meat shield and taking out every one of ours.

We had managed to win by using a tactic that my mother fawned upon and eventually admitted that it was the best course of action and the tactic was then taught to all of the students of the Nishizumi style.

By getting our tanks to reverse slightly and then accelerating, we managed to get several of the enemy tanks to miss and when they did, we used their reloading time to get in close and ram them, poking our gun through a hole in the defense and destroying the tank hidden within the formation.

Of course, our tank was eliminated from the match as well, but we had done our job to eliminate the greatest threat to our team.

Back to the present, the enemy green, the only thing capable of taking down tanks in the nearby vicinity was being protected by several blues and reds.

You already know what we intend to do don't you?

"All right. GO!"

My Tiger lurched forward like the big cat it was named after. Treads rolling over the soft ground, shredding the grass. Impacts from water jets and boulders impacting the armor from all sides. From within the tank, the noise of the battle raging outside were dull and lacked the piercing volume that screeched at your eardrums.

A dull clank came from the frontal armor and we met resistance for a few seconds before the tank the obstacle.

"Okay... STOP NOW!" Kotone screamed at Rosa as she aimed the gun at the Element. "Commander! I'm rea-"

I beat her to it and gave the command to fire.

"UTE!"

An armor piercing composite rigid shell took to the air, travelling at speeds far above the speed of sound. It impacted on the green Element's core, shattering it and continued to move onward as the body of the creature shattered. The shell continued on its trajectory and hit a smaller Element in a non-lethal area, sending it flying but not killing it. Sadly

"Yeah!" My crew burst into cheers. The only Element capable of destroying us had been eliminated.

"Okay! Good work. Now let's get back into formation and push forward to the airport."

They nodded. Before we were attacked, the unit was only five to ten minutes away from the airport. Once we were clear of this pack of them, the push forward would be quick and generally easier.

Our tank quickly returned to its position and took out two more Elements in the process. Everything seemed to be going fine. Even the infantry unit had only suffered minor injuries and one casualty.

At least, until a meteor landed beside our tank.

-/-

Iwao slowly made his way from the back on the tank and crawled beside me.

His uniform was covered in dirt and oil and sweat. His hands were also equally dirty. I guess that's what you get for meddling with the engine.

Climbing through the cramped compartments and closing the hatch behind him, he somehow manages to find his way to drop down behind me in the driver's compartment.

My breath catches when I feel his heavy breathing on my neck. "W-w-why are you here?" I ask, uncurling myself slightly.

In our years living together in my mansion of a house, we had become as close as siblings. Some even ask of we are from time to time.

Yes, my mom looked down upon our relationship in shame. A heiress and a technician? One with such off-putting scars at that too. That was what she probably thought of him.

And of course, in light of our blossoming friendship, she had intended to fire him and get a replacement... Which she would have done long ago if she hadn't found someone capable enough to multi-task as a bodyguard, a technician and if required, a butler. Only for me though. Another deciding factor was also his loyalty and his attitude towards her which she really appreciated.

After a year or so, she had even come to see him as an equal to some of her most trusted maids. His pay also skyrocketed after he protected me from the horny son of a businessman. Not that I needed his protection... Though it was nice to have someone around like that.

A pair of arms stretched down from behind my shoulders and undid the knots that my hands had created.

"!"

He sighed, "Relax, Onee-san. Your mom didn't send me."

Strangely enough, that was good enough to calm me down.

"I know what happened." He whispered hesitantly. "You can tell me whats on your mind you know?"

In the darkness of the tank, I couldn't see much of anything. Only the faint LED streetlights that came through the miniscule viewport around the tank illuminated small lines of light.

And in this darkness, I allowed myself to luxury to cry in the arms of a loved one. Extended family you could call it. Or even a crush. To this day, I am still uncertain of the feelings I hold for my unofficial brother.

"Why does she always blame me for losses. Why can't she say that I tried? Why does she have to always use such extreme words?"

Contrary to most, who would raise their volume as they questioned the inequalities of the world, my voice got softer and softer. I even surprised myself. I so hardly had the time to be honest and show weakness to others that when I did, it felt alien.

"Well, I can't say I know how you feel." Iwao adjusted his body till my curled up body was in-between his two legs and rested his chin on my head. "After all, I never had any parents to scold me."

My heart stopped. Here I am complaining about my parents when the person trying to comfort me didn't even have parents to scold him. I covered my face with my hands in shame. Unwilling to let him see my face even though it was too dark to do so.

"Ah... I really am bad at this aren't I? And I'm all dirty too."

I took a deep, shaky breath. "Thank you Iwao. I feel better alrea-"

A sharp pain blossomed from my right cheek. It took me completely by surprise and only after gaping in shock did I fully comprehend what happened. Rage took over my solemn thoughts and I turned my body to face his.

"Iwao! What the hell was that for?!"

Our eyes met. Even in the darkness, I could feel his eyes boring into mine. And mine into his.

"Because," he began with a serious voice I never heard before, "you are running again."

My hand rushed up to slap him in return but was grabbed by his. Instantly, I could feel the difference in strength. While I was trained to operate tanks and could do simple maintenance work and was proficient in loading, he trained in hand-to-hand combat and did repairs for tanks. Repairs that required hefting fifty kilogramme parts.

"Let go!" I screeched at him and put on my most imposing glare.

"No."

"Why?!"

Now this is over the line. We may be close but even I have my limits. I am a mentally and physically strong woman who is more than good enough to care for herself. I do not need someone else to fuss over me!

I increased the strength of my struggling and even tried to headbutt him but it was all for naught. He had the advantage of both strength and position.

Eventually, I grew tired and when the adrenaline left, weak. I slumped forward and rested my forehead on his chest. My arms still held in place above my head.

"Because you are weak." He answered me a full ten minutes after I asked him my question.

Wait... Did he say I was weak?

"But because you always put up such a strong front," he continued before I could get angry, "you avoid your weaknesses. Instead of confronting your weaknesses, you run from them."

He took a deep breath and let go of my hands. Moving more quickly than I could imagine in such cramped conditions, he picked me up by the waist and sat in my seat, placing my body on his lap.

"I'm gonna tell you a story of a boy and a girl."

What? Did something hit him in the head? The Iwao I know would never talk about things like this.

"Don't interrupt 'kay?"

He seem serious though...

"Mm."

"Alright."

He adjusted me yet again till his chin rested on my shoulder. This is the thing about being a good twenty centimeters shorter than someone. You get treated like a kid.

"The boy had a family. A loving one at that, but he was a loner. That is, he liked to be alone. He would spend hours alone in his room and only spoke when he was required to. In school, he had few friends. Even then, the friends he had were not really close to him and they were friends only because they made it a point to talk to him.

This went on for years. He felt nothing for other people and even when one of his only friends died in a car crash, he didn't even bat an eye. That caused him to lose all of his friends.

From then on, he would be as neutral as he could and eventually more friends. But after every year, when they changed class or school, he would cut all contact with them.

One day however, he saw a girl. She wasn't very pretty but to him, she was the most beautiful person in the world. She however, was a very social person and had many friends. The boy tried his hardest to be friendly and gradually, they became friends."

Iwao took a few quick breaths and cleared his throat.

"After a few years, they got close enough that he confessed to her. To which she accepted. But when their friends found out, they told her that every year, he abandons all his friends and cuts all contact with them. No matter how close they were.

Unfazed, the girl refused to believe them because the boy maintained contact with her even though they were in different classes. They continued to be friends till their last year of highschool.

When the girl went to visit the boy one day, she saw him in a park, clutching his head and talking into the air, asking an invisible person if he should forget her or not.

Hearing that,she appeared to him and told him she loved him and would stay together with him because she understood his awkwardness amongst other people. However, the boy made a fatal mistake and chased her away.

For an entire month, she tried to get to talk to him but he shut her down every time and eventually, told her to forget about him and find someone else because he felt incapable.

And she did just that."

Iwao sighed loudly.

"Is that the end?" I asked. I was surprisingly caught into the story. As if I was listening to an ancient myth or legend.

"Nope. Lemme continue." Iwao said with a smile that I could somehow feel.

"After two months, they boy realised his mistake because he had grown soft during his time with the girl and now needed friends. He went back to the girl but was coldly shot down.

He said that he was once strong and because of that, did not need friends and it was her fault for making him soft. To which she replied that he was never strong. She had only become his friend because he looked like a boy who wanted to overcome his fear of others and thus, fell in love with his determination to become friends with her.

The boy, now fully understanding his mistake, tried to make it up to the girl but she turned him down. He then resorted to dirty tactics by saying that he can't care about others anymore and could only care for her as a form of guilt trip.

Having none of it, the girl finally said her last words to him: You have become indifferent to others because you have run away so much that you have forgotten how to care."

I gasped. That was an unexpected turn of events. I knew she was gonna turn him down but... That was cold.

As I sensing my thoughts, Iwao cleared his throat and nodded. "It's not a happy story. Do you want me to finish?"

"Hai."

"Mm... Now, aggravated by the girl's words, the boy left and they never met again. But the boy's story doesn't end.

He continues to hold on stubbornly to the belief that he is mentally the strongest. Just like when he was a child. Except that now, in addition to having no friends and being alone all the time, he also lacked the ability to care for others. This lack of care quickly spread to his work and emotions, leading to him being unable to keep up a position in a job.

Eventually homeless and still stubbornly holding on to his belief, that being alone and indifferent is strength, he remembered the girl's words to him. Words that she told him when they were a couple.

'Do not run from your problems by making them appear to be your strength. When there is someone there for you, rely on them and they will rely on you. Know that if doing something does not make you happy, it is not a strength but a problem. And I hope you will always remember that even if I leave, you be in my mind and heart as my first.'

As he froze to death in the winter, homeless and penniless, the boy, now a man, finally understood what the girl meant. And for the first time in twenty years, he smiled knowing that he had learnt his mistake."

Iwao finished his story with a sad sigh.

My chest was tight and my eyes were watery. The story had struck a chord within me. But I didn't understand why.

"Is that story true?" I asked him.

He shrugged and sighed again. The story must have taken a toll on him as well.

"Who knows? It might be."

We sat in a comfortable silence. The story replayed itself again and again in my mind.

"Are you saying that I am the boy?"

Iwao jumped a little from the sudden question and answered quickly.

"Yes."

"And you are the girl?"

"No,"

No? What?

"Because unlike the girl," he wrapped his arms around me in a hug. "I'll always be here for you no matter how stupid you act. So tell me your problems alright? Let me be burdened."

His words carried a surprising amount of weight. My eyes watered once again but this time, in happiness. Happiness that I have a friend that cares about me so.

"Thank you Iwao…"

"Mmm… Don't hesitate to come to me if you need someone to talk to okay?"

The comfortable silence returned and I lay on his muscular body for a good amount of time, enjoying the feeling of his chest rising and falling at even intervals.

He did say I could talk to him…

I gathered my courage and for the first time in my life, I told someone some of my private thoughts.

"Do you think I am a disappointment to my mom?" I asked him.

His answer was short and sweet. As if he had expected it and was simply reciting it. "No. Rather than a disappointment, I'd say you are her pride and joy."

That said, I still had a hard time believing his words. From my youth, I had been under the watchful glare of my mother. Her strict rule over my life had driven me close to madness more than once and no matter how much I did to please her, she always seemed aloof and unsatisfied with me.

"How do you know that? All she ever does is scold. Even when I win, she sees only comments on how I could have won with fewer casualties or have taken less damage."

"Because she's like you."

Huh? How is she like me?

"She was trained all her life to keep her emotions apart from her actions. When you win, she wants to praise you but it has become habit for her to look for mistakes. When you lose, she wishes to comfort you but it is her nature to make you strive to improve."

That... Actually makes sense. I never actually thought about her actions that way…

"Anyway, I can see that you are still kinda messed up here…" He ruffled my hair with his nose. "So I'll give you some time to think alright? Don't hesitate to talk when you need to alright? Onee-chan."

With the heavy atmosphere dissipating by the second, Iwao laughed a little, knowing that I had generally recovered. I joined in too.

"Uuuuu… Now you're just teasing me."

Upon hearing me joking back, we started laughing wholeheartedly.

'Your problems weren't all that bad after all eh?' A little voice in my head teased me. 'Now you'd better thank your little brother.'

I turned my body a hundred and eighty degrees and almost pushed my lips onto his before catching myself.

'He's Reina's.' A cynical voice reminded me. Stopping myself from kissing him, I simply lay my head on his chest. 'He's your brother, not your lover.'

"Iwao, you have to stop being the hero all the time. It makes me feel like I'm the imouto." I jested.

"Mm. Alright."

Oddly enough, his voice seemed rather high-pitched and panicked. His heart seemed to be beating rather rapidly as well.

I looked up at his face. "Iwao are you alright?" A beam of light from outside shone through a tiny view port and illuminated half his blushing face.

Suddenly, I remembered my position and looked down at my chest. Sure enough, my modesty was pressing against him. My crotch was also rubbing on his.

My face turned bright red as I put two and two together.

"IWAO!"

-/-

"Commander! Commander!"

Dull thunderclaps. Shaky ground. I tried to open my eyelids but they were unbelievably heavy. A warm liquid covered my left cheek and shoulder.

Cold water splashed on my face, sending electric shocks through my body.

"What?!" My eyes shot open and immediately started taking in information.

I was in a small room. Fifteen people in it. Maybe more. Probably a safe-zone too since there are no weapons. The cause of the shaky floor must be because of a tank. Not many weapons could make tiled flooring vibrate this much.

My body also acted on autopilot. Shooting up and reaching for the nearest possible melee weapon I could find. In this case, I went for the pistol holstered on my waist but found nothing.

But as I moved, an immense pain shot through my arm and torso. It was more than just pain. The pain left me blinded and gasping for air just as I regained my senses.

"Shit! Hold her down. Let her recover again. Do you have any painkillers?"

I recognized the voice. My eyes struggled to open and when they did, I was greeted by a young girl with white hair and red eyes.

She looked really familiar but the pain barely allowed me to register what was going on, let alone connect face to name. My vision started to get even more blurry and I passed out yet again.

~~~~~~~~~~~Yuriko~~~~~~~~~~~~

Shit. She passed out... Again.

Earlier, this woman had regained consciousness several times but lacked any reaction whatsoever. As if she was in some dream.

The building shuddered and my hearing dulled. Overhead lights flickered as dust from the ceiling came down like snow.

That damn tank outside is just as noisy as those damn monsters. Maybe more so.

I looked at the dark clothed man keeping watching over the injured who were tended to by the ten or so people going around helping out in any way they could.

He had black skin and was built like a knight, wearing armour that looked like a cross between a mediaeval knight and an astronaut. Currently, he was not wearing his goldfish bowl of a helmet and wore a saddened expression as he watched me and a few others trying to relieve the pains of the injured. With his dark skin and broad jaw, he looked like a normal human. And if I met him without his armor, I would have believed so as well.

His name was 'One'. Hailing from Academy City, he was an Element. Though it is a little ride to compare him to those mindless animals. With control over heat, fire and 'surprisingly', limited control over other Elements, he has been instrumental in keeping us alive.

"One. Can you keep her warm please? The water must have lowered her temperature."

The man nodded and I felt the air around me rise in temperature by a few degrees.

"Thanks."

I returned to tend to the woman laying in front of me on a pile of ponchos.

Because I had a little experience with first aid, and had knowledge of more than a few drugs, (I have Last Order and Mikoto to thank. I swear, those two get injured on a monthly basis.) I had been assigned to help with the injured as the army guys fought off the attacking Elements.

The extent of her injuries was astounding. How she is still alive is a wonder in itself. Though One did not play a small part in keeping her alive.

He had helped greatly by keeping the injured warm especially those with severe blood loss. And he even helped to cauterize wounds by using his finger as a laser cutter and be our scalpel. A bacteria-free one at that.

Back to the woman. Her wounds stretched all over her body. But were mostly concentrated on her left side. They were mostly cuts and bruises but the most significant ones were the broken arm and the massive gash on her thigh. Not to mention a head injury I have no way of diagnosing.

Luckily for her, there were only a few burn wounds so the amount of scars on her body may only be limited to the big gash on her thigh. How the hell did she get such badly hurt though…

"Yuriko-chan. Is she gonna be alright?" A quiet voice asked.

I turned to my right and noticed Mizore kneeling beside me. A basket full of old looking bandages and a few zip lock bags with pills.

"Where did you get those?"

Another voice answered me.

"One of the soldiers found a pharmacy in one of the other terminals and brought back as much as he could."

Nozomi wiped sweat off her brow. The girl was really strong. Stronger than some of the other men. (Yes I am talking about that annoying guy from the plane. He was ungrateful for being saved and went off on his own, only to return traumatized.)

Thanks to One, I managed to hold out for an extra hour or so before help arrived. Well, I'm not sure if you can call them help. They had weapons and all but were in pretty bad shape.

But still, we managed. By the time help arrived, most of the passengers in my plane had awakened. Crew as well. And if any of them were still unconscious, the impressive boom from the King Tiger's main gun would have awoken them from their slumber.

And don't worry, my ability is still a well kept secret as One took control of some of the smaller Elements and used his mastery of fire to eliminate the others for me. Seriously the guy does so much for you that you feel like you owe him something... Which is probably the point.

He did say he needed help to get rid of his master...

Mizore passed me a roll of bandages before moving to another soldier who had been knocked unconscious by a high power jet of water.

All in all, we have fifteen injured. And surprisingly, none dead. Testament to how much help One has been. And not to mention that the survival or the injured also helped to keep up morale… Well, I would be wrong to say that there were completely zero dead but those that were, were not related to me in any way so I felt no loss.

"I am going to help out with defence. Will you be alright on your own Suzushina-sama?" One asked politely.

His face wore an expression I had never seen before. A cross between uncertainty, confidence, concern and stress. Huh. I'm surprised I even managed to identify those emotions.

"Sure. I'll be fine." I smiled before going back to work and changing the woman's bandages. I didn't tie the original ones properly.

One nodded and ran off, putting on his helmet as he ran. I have to admit, he looked kinda cool doing that. With his African-American look, he looked like one of those movie characters.

An arm stretched around my neck. "Hey, hey Yuriko. You never told us who is that." Natsuki appeared seemingly out of thin air.

Two more voices joined in. This time, they were from Nozomi and Mizore.

"Yeah. You never told us."

"Mm."

I ignored them for a moment as I focused on removing the old, badly done bandages. My fingers fumbled with the dirty fabric and required assistance from Nozomi's deft movements.

"Well, when I woke up, he was there." I gave them a vague answer hoping they would buy it.

"Oh really?" Natsuki ruffled my already messy white hair. "I would believe you if he didn't act like your butler."

"I concur." Nozomi agreed.

Ah. They didn't buy it... Why am I even surprised.

Fighting the urge to facepalm, I quickly tied a quick knot to tighten the bandaged and sighed as the entire building shook. That tank is LOUD. Though it may be One summoning that dragon thingy.

I glanced at their faces and noticed that they all wore curious expressions. I guess girl talk really is the best way for girls to relieve stress.

"Well... I guess he's a nice guy...?"

The three of them gave me monotonous looks that betrayed their disappointment in my answer. They had every right to be disappointed. That was one of the most stupid answers anyone could have given.

I gave them a sheepish smile. What could I say? Things are going to get better? One can save us? This is a situation no one could have anticipated.

"Is she awake?" A formal sounding voice asked, cutting into our conversation.

The source of the voice was a woman in the same black tanker's uniform as the woman on the ground. Except that her clothes were neither soaked with blood of half burnt. Her medium length black hair was tied in a ponytail that swung in tandem with her movements. A name tag identified her as 'Hikari'.

The man beside her wore a modified version of the standard soldier's armor. His backpack was completely replaced by a large radio set and the only weapons he held was a knife and a pistol that were hung on his waist. His face was hidden by an opaque visor and his flat, unornamented armor had no signs of identification. There were a few white stripes running down his body though, maybe a sign of attachment to a certain battlegroup or unit?

Together, the two of them gave off a very imposing air that I was sure had to do with the black armor.

I sensed Mizore shuffling behind me and Natsuki preparing to stand defiantly against them. Nozomi picked up my crutched and quickly passed it to me. They seemed to think that our two visitors were less than friendly.

"Not as of now. Why are you here though?" I replied as neutrally as possible.

I didn't want to offend them or anything. My power may be more or less controlled on demand now but I had no guarantee that I'd be able to control it perfectly. It would also be a pain to explain to everyone how I can reflect bullets like they were grains of sand.

"We..." 'Hikari' glanced at the soldier who shrugged and nodded simultaneously. "Have some information for her so please tell me when she regains consciousness."

The helmeted soldier nodded to her and jogged off. His armor making a click clack sound with every heavy step.

"Whew. I thought I'd never get rid of him." 'Hikari' sighed and dropped on her butt.

Eh?

"Eh?"

"Eh?"

"Eh?"

She looked at us in confusion before smiling beautifully. Her smile seemed to radiate sparkles. Never before have I seen such a transformation.

"Hehehehe. I guess I never introduced myself..." She straighted her uniform and sat upright, pushing out her... Small chest. "My name is Hikari. Good to meet you. I am the radioman of Commander Nishizumi Maho's crew."

Hikari offered a hand to me that I awkwardly shook.

As I shook her hand, I felt an awkward chill go through the air between us. It felt like her current behaviour was nothing more than a façade.

She was hiding something. And since there was a radioman, it's probably bad news.

The other three didn't seem to notice it and started to warm up to her, exchanging greetings and returning to their original jobs. Luckily, the spacing between each patient was quite large. About two meters I think. And with the addition of the ambient gunfire and explosions, everyone could have separate conversations like in a hospital.

"Why are you guys back here though? Earlier, one of you guys... I think her name was Rosa, got me to pour water on her to wake her up."

Hikari's eyes widened. "What?! Rosa!?" She facepalmed. Hard. "Who pours cold water on an injured person?!"

The two seem to be acquainted.

She sighed and slouched her back. "You see, Nishizumi-sama here is the overall commander of our battlegroup... If you can call it one." Hikari scratched her head and sighed again. "Our tank was hit by a meteor on the way here and it was partially destroyed."

Now it was my turn to be surprised. So THAT'S how she got so badly hurt. They managed to survive getting hit by one of the meteors that destroyed my plane? Impressive.

"Most of us got off fine thanks to the thick armor but the Commander and our loader got hit."

Hikari sighed yet again. She has a knack for doing that.

"The Commander got off with bad injuries but our loader bought the farm. So did our tank. Thus, we hopped onto the back of the other tank in our group and arrived here."

That explains the lack of command and the bad state they came in with. Thirty soldiers and a tank. Most of the soldiers looked like they were from different groups too. Different color stripes and armor designs setting them apart from each other.

It also showed that we actually have casualties. Except that she died before she got here.

I clenched my fist tightly. Ever since Reina, I couldn't stand to hear stories of people losing close friends or family. Or just people dying in general. Maybe that's why I have such a strong urge to care for these injured.

Then realization hit me.

"EH? Nishizumi?! This lady here is THE Nishizumi Maho?"

Sadly, not a single one of my friends understood my reaction but Hikari did and gave me a peace sign.

"Yeah. She is. Be honored to have been able to care for her. Almost no one has that honor." Hikari offered a hand with a wink.

I grinned and shook her hand. "I will treasure the opportunity."

The other three looked on in confusion and I silently laughed to myself. Thank Haimura for exposing me to all this stuff.

Suddenly, I felt movement under my hand.

"Ugh... Hikari?"

All of us scrambled around the woman who was slowly regaining consciousness. I myself sighed loudly in relief. She looked alright to say the least. Not that having bandages wrapped around one's head, arms and leg was alright but you get my drift... Do you?

"Yeah. Its me."

Hikari looked as if she had just seen a miracle occur. And now I felt bad for ever doubting her connection to Maho over here.

Sensing that Hikari was about to force the barely conscious Maho into a conversation, Nozomi took over and nudged Hikari in the arm.

"Your name is Nishizumi Maho am I right? Do you feel nauseous or are in pain?"

Nozomi acting like a real nurse... Is a wonder to see. She definitely had the knack for it. And the body too.

Her slightly messy brown hair tied up in a ponytail and a light sheen of sweat that seemed to make her shine with every flicker of the overhead lights. Not to mention her posture that really accentuated her curves...

Good thing Haimura isn't here to judge me.

Speaking of Haimura... I wonder how he is...

Natsuki tapped me on the arm and grinned, interrupting my thoughts and holding back my panic attack.

"Nozomi is kinda hot when she acts like that huh?"

"Mm. Yeah..."

Shit. My mind is wandering and becoming less and less focused by the second…

I tried to stand and was helped up immediately by Natsuki.

"Yuriko? Is something wrong?" She asked. Her tone quickly becoming one of worry, my face undoubtedly betraying my emotions.

"Mizore, Nozomi, can you help take care of things here for a while?"

They nodded and returned to their work to make sure that Maho wasn't in any pain of discomfort.

"Yuriko?"

Natsuki trailed behind me as I brisk hobbled over to a secluded corner of the large terminal.

Now that I mention it, I never actually got the chance to describe it did I?

It is literally a giant box, about five hundred meters long and ten meters tall with cold marble tiles flooring and large overhead lights that were built into the ceiling.

Currently, the building was running on backup energy supplies and could barely sustain just the lighting systems. It goes without saying that the air-conditioning was down and the large space within was slowly but surely becoming an oven.

There were also several shops and destroyed barricades meant to guide queues of people around check points. It is an airport after all.

Some parts of the building were also partially collapsed and the dead were piled up in a corner, covered visually by a large black cloth and their smell masked by gun powder. Then again, there weren't many bodies. Most of them were eaten by the creatures and the surviving ones had run off to underground evacuation areas long before we crash landed. I hope they are okay though...

I sat down on a bench and closed my eyes, trying to focus on the cracks of rifles and the shouts for cover and ammunition or notifications on the location of enemies from the soldiers.

They weren't far. The only thing separating me from them was a concrete wall. Or you could also say a metal door. The room beyond that door had been partially demolished so the soldiers positioned the tank in a good spot and fortified the area.

"Yuriko..."

Natsuki looked at me with a slight frown. It wouldn't take a genius to know that she was worried but I was at a loss as to what to tell her.

On one hand, I wanted to complain about all the problems that had occurred today. Having to use my power, having an alien invasion, having a giant guy in knight armor waiting on me and most of all, stressing over a certain boy and my family.

On the other hand, I didn't want to burden her with my troubles and the secret of my power. During this time, most of the band members had followed me to this defendable area and managed to keep their fear off their minds and work together to get each other to safety only because I showed off an aura of confidence and pretended to be completely calm.

Natsuki sat down beside me and pulled my head onto her lap. My heart rate skyrocketed from the sudden contact.

"Natsuki?"

She placed a finger on my lips.

"You've done enough to keep us all safe. It's our turn to be burdened." Natsuki bent over and put her forehead on mine. "It's okay to take a break after all you did. The others may not be here to tell you but I know that they are thankful that you took up the leadership position to bring us to safety."

I blushed. The things she said did not help me calm down at all.

"So what's on your mind Yuriko?"

At that moment, I almost blurted out everything to her. From the point where I activated my wings to stop the plane to the part where One came to help, saying that he would lend me his assistance if I agreed to help him later.

No Yuriko. She doesn't need to know about the gemstones. No one deserves to be burdened by all that.

"I'm just worried about my family back home... The meteors were falling over Tokyo as well right?"

I gave her half my answer. It wouldn't help all that much but talking about something helped calm one's nerves. It was a little something a certain someone taught me.

Natsuki laughed a little, trying to lighten the atmosphere. God, you have no idea how thankful I am for her. Her cheerfulness is like a little gem that I will have no hesitation to protect.

"Heh. Thinking about your boyfriend eh? Haimura right?"

"Mm... I tried calling but..." I shook my head bitterly. There was no reception for mobile devices at all. The only working radios were the military issued ones that emitted their own private long range signals.

"I'm sure they'll be fine. From the stories you told me, he's probably having the best of luck right now."

I laughed as well. That was true.

"Thank you Natsuki."

"No problem."

Our foreheads separated and she leaned back on the backrest, stretching her back. I took the advantage to lie down on her lap for a few more seconds. She has nice legs.

"Ahem." A formal voice made a dignified sounding cough. "I hope I am not interrupting anything."

I shot up in the blink of an eye. My cheeks bright red. So were Natsuki's. We probably looked like lesbians back there.

The one who interrupted our moment was none other than the woman I looked after earlier. Nishizumi Maho.

When our eyes met, I felt like I should know her but I had trouble recalling where I met her. It seemed to be the same for her as her eyes lit up with recognition but quickly returned neutral upon realizing I did not recognize her.

"I would like to thank you for..." She winced when she reached forward to shake my hand. "Sorry... I would like to thank you for tending to my injuries."

"Eh... It's fine I guess... You're welcome?" I replied awkwardly, completely unprepared. Her calm disposition really threw me off.

Natsuki guffawed at my awkward reaction and offered a hand to Maho. "In my friend's place, you're welcome."

Maho seemed to be thankful for that and shook Natsuki's hand gently. Her arm may have some damage we did not identify earlier.

Just then, Nozomi jogged up to us and panted. "Nishizumi-san, please don't leave us like that. Your right arm may not be broken but you really you shouldn't be moving too much!"

We are having a lot of entrances aren't we?

"Is something wrong with her arm?" I ask.

Nozomi turned to me and nodded aggressively. "Most of the muscles are strained. Or maybe pulled."

I tilted my head in respect. She must be in incredible pain right now. Maintaining such a formal stance while making such movements with so many injuries is quite a feat.

"Commander! You gotta stop running off like that!" The woman from earlier, Hikari came running towards us, Mizore on her tail.

Maho simply nodded at her and turned back to me.

"I hear that you are in charge of the civilians here?"

She was interrupted by an incredible boom from the tank on the other side of the wall. The volume alone was enough to get Mizore to jump and even made Hikari flinch but Maho didn't even bat an eyelid. Even as dust fell from the ceiling.

"I have an instruction from the higher ups and I would like to know your thoughts." She finished.

I stood there like an idiot for a few seconds.

Processing... processing... Light bulb!

"EH?! WHEN DID I BECOME IN CHARGE?!" I exclaim.

She pointed her thumb behind her back. "The one called the teacher-in-charge of you students pointed to you."

I facepalmed. That slacker of a teacher pushed her responsibilities to a student again. Normally, she pushed all the discipline work to Shutaura and everything else to Arisa but as you can see from their lack of presence, they are not present.

Actually, I am also unsure about where they were. Probably scavenging in the deserted stores for supplies.

Ah don't worry about hidden monsters. One cleared out the entire building as the soldiers built up their little fort.

"So she pushed the responsibility to me eh?"

Maho's face seemed to show sympathy for a moment before returning to her poker face.

"What's the plan you wanted to tell me."

Her plan is probably the thing that Hikari and the other soldier came her to tell her.

Haha! They tried to keep it from us and now the Commander herself is about to tell it to us!

"We are going to wait here for another hour for reinforcements before we push out of Osaka and towards Tokyo. It is up to you if you want to stay here, where the military presence will significantly weaken, or would you rather follow us on lorry to Tokyo."

A tough decision. A single word here could mean salvation for all of my friends... Or it could spell their deaths.

Staying would generally be safer but we would not have the army backing us up. While leaving would expose us to more enemies but we would have protection from those creatures.

A loud roar from outside shook the entire structure. It dwarfed the tank shots, making it sound like a toy gun. One had probably sent out his dragon...

One.

Words that he told me earlier during his explanation of his situation echoed in my mind.

'I need your help to eliminate my master in Academy City. I will assist you now but if you take too long, I will have no choice but to leave you.'

If we stayed, we wouldn't even have One to help protect us.

That final factor cemented my decision.

"We will follow you."

* * *

"Alright everyone, this is the plan Suzushina-san has settled for us. Do tell if you have any violent objections." Shutaura glanced at me in confirmation, to which I nodded with a smile.

It feels great to have a natural leader helping you

After telling Shutaura and Arisa about my plan to follow the army guys to Tokyo, they had accepted with some cynicism but eventually admitted that it was the best course of action.

Who wanted to stay in City that was both overrun by invisible killijg machines and partly abandoned by the city's very own defenders.

"We will follow the JSDF to Tokyo. There will be transport allocated for us and they will do their best to protect us."

A file of soldiers came marching down, their boots making so much noise as they stomped in unison drowned out Shutaura's voice.

The population of the area had increased tenfold within the past thirty minutes. It seemed that everyone and their mother had come down to the airport.

Soldiers from all over the city were making their way down, bringing with them civilians who were literally hanging on them for survival.

Now, you may be skeptical on why the army would bring a large convoy or civilians over hostile territory and try to regroup with friendlies who were stranded in Tokyo because no matter how you look at it, large numbers of civilians equals dead weight. But surprisingly, they had a good reason.

Earlier, Commander Maho had explained to me why the army was willing to do all that. (Spoiler, she did it in private.)

It seemed that most of the underground bunkers that were supposed to be used for emergencies such as an invasion from another country were activated and millions were already huddled inside with enough food and water to last them a good three months.

However, the transportation methods of our enemy was unlike any conventional fighting force.

Instead of landing craft and parachutes, this annoying enemy fell from the skies in the form of meteors. Causing some of the bunkers to collapse under successive impacts.

Out of the eighty or so underground areas, a good thirty percent of them had collapsed or had been broken into by those monsters.

Thus, the army decided to save those who were unable to get into the bunkers to minimize losses. Though I'm sure the fact that our country's aging population was another reason why so many young people were saved.

Out of a hundred people here, only four or five were elderly and only twenty or so were full grown adults. (Not to mention most of them were women.)

A modern looking tank with the JSDF symbol on its turret rolled by with a few soldiers hanging onto handles on its sides.

These soldiers looked somewhat different from the regulars.

Instead of dark colored armor with white highlights that were commonplace on JSDF soldiers, these guys had completely black armor and weapons that looked like they came from a science fiction flick.

Some were equipped with massive guns that looked like they should be mounted on cars while others had rifles longer than their bodies strapped on their backs.

"Are those the so-called 'Kazoku' guys?" Natsuki whispered into my ear.

Kazoku soldiers were not well known outside of the sport but they were there nonetheless. Just like how the EPA members had to follow the orders of the government they were living under, so did the Kazoku guys.

"I think so... I've never seen them before though." I mumbled my reply.

Something about the aura the gave off made them unapproachable. And yet downright badass.

Eh? Is that... Maho?

She was running towards the group of Kazoku soldiers with two of her crew, Rosa and Hikari if I remembered correctly, running after her and demanding that she stopped.

Shutaura continued with her speech but I ignored her, too entranced with the scene unfolding in front of me.

Am I going to see the soul mate of the legendary Maho Nishizumi?

She stopped the tank right in in its tracks and got the five Kazoku soldiers to get off.

Two of them removed their helmets revealing a burly looking man with frizzy hair and another skinnier one with short cropped hair.

They seemed to hold her in high regard as the shorter, tougher looking one smacked the helmets of the other three and got them to make a small how towards her.

"Shina-chan! Suzushina-chan!" An incessant buzzing was calling my name.

Forcing my face to change from an extremely irritated one to a neutral one in a few seconds was rather taxing but I pulled it off.

"Yes?" I say. And jumped back as the entire band was looking at me. Natsuki, Nozomi, Mizore and Yuuko were in the front, grinning madly.

What the hell did they do?

The band bowed.

"Haaaaaa?!" My cheeks flushed red. I am not used to having to much attention. "What are you guys doing!"

"Thanking you of course!" Arisa explained from somewhere in the middle of the group. She was a little on the short side unlike Shutaura who towered over most of the others. "You're the one who organized us and got us out of that deathtrap of a plane and even saved the crew and the other passengers."

Natsuki took over. "Even now, you got us protection from the enemy and you still worked hard to care for the injured soldiers."

"So thank you Suzu-chan!" Nozomi finished and gestured to the band.

"Thank you Suzushina-san!"

My eyes watered. Why does this make me feel so... Emotional? I'm just being thanked for trying to protect my... Friends...

Friends... That's what they are aren't they?

I looked at the faces of each an every one of them.

Some wore happy smiling faces, happy to be alive and feeling safe among so many military personnel while others looked like they were on the brink of tears, afraid for their lives but still trying to be positive like their friends.

And among them, were the four who made me open up and socialize. I barely knew them but they still accepted me as their friend and let me into their close-knit group.

Natsuki, who first offered to be my friend. Nozomi, who quickly became something like an older sister. Mizore, the quiet supporter who did her best behind the scenes and Yuuko, someone who provided a sense of normalcy to our odd mix of behaviours.

In just three short days, we had grown so close.

I allowed the tears to flow from my eyes and made one of the widest smiles I could manage.

"Thank... You for... Believing in me."

Natsuki beamed and run up to me to embrace me in a bear hug. The other three quickly followed and joined in.

I buried my face into Natsuki's hair and breathed deeply. She smelled like sweat. (What did you expect? Strawberries?!)

"You organized this didn't you?"

"Mm." She shook her head. "Everyone was thankful but they didn't know you well enough to waltz up to you and thank you so Yuuko-chan there spread the word and she was the one who organized it."

Yuuko smacked Natsuki's head in embarrassment.

"Don't say that! It's embarrassing!"

"Oh really?" Natsuki shot back. "We're the ones hugging Yuriko here while the entire band is watching."

What!?

The four of them released their grip on me and I was taken aback by a large group of students laughing clapping their hands.

"Congratulations Yuriko. You just built a harem." Arisa shouted from somewhere and everyone else's laughing grew even louder.

Eventually, the infection got to me and I laughed along with them. It felt like it was the first time in years since I last laughed to much.

Making friends... Was never a mistake. Thank you Haimura for letting me realize that. I swear I'm going to find you and thank you soon.

* * *

"Is everyone here?" I ask.

"Mm... One... Two... Eight... Fifteen... Twenty four... Thirty... Fourth five... Fifty three... Yeah! Everyone's here."

I nod and give the signal to the driver of the MTAFV to go.

The old man barely even glanced at me before pushing a button to close the cargo door and another to start the engine.

I fumbled through the narrow walkway between the driver's compartment and the cargo area.

The MTAFV, or Mass Transport class Armored Fighting Vehicle was nothing more than a truck pulling a tank and a bus behind it.

It was one of the newer vehicles added into the army's fleet ever since Academy City started selling them.

The driver's compartment was shaped to be like that of a bullet train and it was connected seamlessly into a fighting compartment where five soldiers were stationed. On top of this fighting compartment, was a large gun no different from that of a tank apart from the fact that it was fully automated and only fired at aerial targets.

Behind the fighting compartment, was a cargo bay that could easily fit a tank... Or two. Maybe even three. But currently, it was filled with high school kids excitedly looking out tiny mesh slits in the walls.

"You need help with that?"

A low voice belonging to none other than the self proclaimed One asked.

Smiling in thanks, I nodded. "Yeah. I wouldn't mind some help getting out of this stupid compartment." He picked me up by the armpits with his large arms and lifted me up like I was nothing. "Seriously, did they think it possible for someone with disability to walking through?" I complained.

"I agree that it is a flaw but I doubt it crossed their mind that anyone with disability would even have the opportunity to get onto a vehicle like this." He gave a calm analysis and put me down.

The fire symbol on his chest was pulsing. He was probably secretly controlling a few small Elements and making them protect the convoy or was scanning the area of any hostile ones.

Not that the army needed him to scan for them.

Just ten minutes ago, Elements had stopped falling from the skies and it was clear for aircraft and helicopters to take to their air.

Even now, three HsAFH-11 'Six wings' unmanned helicopters were hovering over us, giving those in command of the weapons thermal sensors and motion sensors. Not to mention a good amount of missiles. Or so I was told.

Luckily for us, the Elements had bodies that were either hotter or colder than room temperature. The fire ones had cores that hit close to eighty degrees celsius while the other three types had cores of around zero to ten degrees. That allowed even regular thermal sensors on tanks and the smaller AFVs to detect them.

Our MTAFV started moving foward. I excitedly looked out one of the vision slits and watched the entire convoy of twenty or so other MTAFVs, fifty tanks and a fleet of wheel-less motorbikes that hovered over the air shoot forward.

We moved out of the safety of the buildings and scattered gunfire popped up every now and then but nothing seemed to dare challenge a fighting force of this size.

Now, we finally get to move forward and reclaim what a certain City tried to steal from us - our normal, everyday lives.

~~~~~~~~Haimura~~~~~~~~~

My arm should be healed? Not believing it, I rotated it. Surprisingly, I felt no pain or lacking in performance.

The girl in front of me grinned and leaned on a wall. "Heh. Good eh? Mastery over water equals unrivalled healing since your bodies are essentially made of water… Well the squishy parts are."

Last Order rushed behind me. Both out of concern for my injury and fear of the new character but she remained silent.

"You're name is... Two?" I say to the pink haired girl.

She nodded vigorously. "Mm!"

Suddenly, her eyes narrowed and her hands shot towards the sword at her side.

"Stay still." She whispered.

My chest tightened and adrenaline pumped through my veins.

She's about to kill me isn't she?

I moved my body slightly in front of Last Order during the short milliseconds that I had before she dashed forward, unsheathing her sword as she went.

A gust of wind blew past me and her hair turned into nothing more than a pink blur.

Loud screeches erupted from behind me followed by dull thuds and shattering glass. I turned my body, holding Last Order behind me as I went.

My heart was beating a mile a minute, still tense from Two's rapid changes in moods. She could change from happy to tense in less than a second.

Speaking of Two, she stood confidently atop a pile of broken glass. Her sword already back in its sheath.

"Those big ones are irritating as hell." Two's feminine voice was a stark contrast to the death cries of the creatures that she just killed.

"You saved us? Manami asks in confusion." Last Order voiced her thoughts for the first time in a good while.

Looks like she had warmed up quite a bit thanks to Two saving us twice. And maybe the lollipop too.

Two nodded and gave her a thumbs-up before moving such blindingly high speeds that made her seem like she was teleporting.

"I can't let the ones I chose to die so easily." She put her face just centimeters away from mine and made the most irresistible puppy eyes.

'If you value your life, you'd better not let Yuriko know about this.' An evil sounding version of me muttered in my mind.

Last Order pulled my ear and whispered loudly. "Kano-nii? Do you know her? Manami says as she is rather suspicious of the closeness of your behaviors."

"Ehhh?! No! I have never met her before! Don't doubt me Last Order!"

"Oh? Are you a lolicon or something? I thought you were her brother or am I..." The girl mock gasped and covered her mouth in the most dramatic way possible. "Are you... A siscon AND a lolicon?!"

"Wait, WHAT?!"

* * *

"Oh my God... Thank the heavens I finally cleared that up."

I pinched the bridge of my nose. The two of them making false assumptions, one on purpose and the other was getting led around by the nose by the more scheming one.

Currently, the three of us were walking out of the Dianoid. Well, Last Order was piggybacking on me so it was just me and Two walking. Two had apparently cleared out the entire mall before she saved me, allowing us to walk out without incident and at the same time, keeping everyone else in the mall safe.

Hmm… It feels weird to call someone by a number.

"Hey, Two."

"Hmm?" The pink haired girl cocked her head slightly.

While she walked, her arms swung widely, like a little kid running in front of their mothers when they go out to play. Her eyes too, they sparkled with a child-like innocence that made her seem so… Human.

Oh yes, she had also told us she wasn't human, but Element, which is the same things as the creatures outside. However, she was one of the original four that a certain scientist created as some sort of control center for all the Elements that had blue cores. Or in her words, 'Those that are aligned to the back and have control over the element water.'

But judging from the way she behaved, she was completely unlike the others as she had emotions, complex thought processes and generally looked human. Even when she touched me, her skin felt real. It was soft to the touch and warm, unlike the crystalline bodies of the other Elements.

"Do you go by any other name? Calling someone by a number just feels weird."

Last Order on my back seemed to agree and nodded her head furiously. She seems to have taken a liking to this energetic girl.

Two frowned a little and pouted her lips. "Hmm… I have a few names that I like… One was the one my master called me, 'Acqua', but I don't wanna be associated with her."

'Acqua'… It has a nice ring to it but it would be obvious that it was a fake name. A bit like how Fiamma sensei's name seems so fake until you realize that he was from London. And 'Acqua' DID bear a resemblance to her power, water.

She seemed to have trouble thinking of a name as she squirmed her body and swung her arms while making sounds akin to a dying cow.

"How about we name you? Manami asks but is afraid that you may be insulted." Last Order spoke up.

Two's eyes lit up and she grinned. She ran up to me and jumped over my head, grabbing Last Order and hugging her tightly. It all happened so fast that even when Last Order was in her arms, I was still in the same posture I was in while carrying Last Order.

Just how powerful is this girl? She was just showing off her abilities like they were nothing.

I may not have as much experience with the supernatural like Yuriko did but I dare say that speaking to the Rhinoceros Beetle, seeing Yuriko's wings and even her aunt Shizuri's floating laser puts me in a position to say that I do have more experience with the supernatural than most others. And one thing they had in common was that they concealed their powers or didn't use them in broad daylight.

This girl however… Used hers like they were a part of her everyday life. Though it probably is since she can't exactly be classified as human.

"So, what is my name gonna be Last Order-chan?" Two completely ignored me and put all her attention on Last Order who seemed to enjoy being played with like that.

It's good to see her acting like normal again.

"I don't know actually… Manami admits in shame." Last Order hung her head but was bodily raised into the air by Two.

"Don't worry about it. I'm sure your Onii-chan over there can think of one." Two smacked my back with a powerful slap that almost sent me flying.

Narrowing my eyes at the girl who smiled sheepishly, I considered a name. I never thought I would have to think of a name for someone until I had a child of my own… A child with Yuriko? A blush stained my cheeks and I shook my head furiously to get it out of my system.

Thankfully, Two didn't seem to notice and cocked her head, waiting for my answer.

I gave it some thought. She was associated with water so a name related to that would be a good choice I guess… Mizuko? Nagisa? Nami? Ran? I looked at her again. She was running around with Last Order on her shoulders. Well, if you can call running up and down walls and jumping over entire shops without breaking sweat running.

All the names I thought of were more suited for girls with peaceful or ladylike characters but 'peaceful' and 'ladylike' are words that could never come up when describing her.

If I were to describe her, it would be energetic, lively and bright. Maybe cute? What would be a good name…

"Aki?" I muttered.

Two seemed to notice me say something and dashed towards me. "Have you came up with a name yet?"

Last Order on her back seemed more dizzy than excited and barely even managed to make a sound.

"I'll be carrying her from now on." I said monotone. This girl is a hazard to young children when she gets excited.

She whined like a five year old and folded her arms.

"Fine. But have you thought of a name yet?"

I nodded. "How does Aki sound?"

Two considered it for a moment before shaking her head. "Nu-uh. Too short."

Last Order also spoke up despite her face still being partly green. "I don't like it too. Manami gives her honest opinion."

"How about Haruna?" I offered

It was met with immediate dissatisfaction.

"Too gentle."

"Nope. Manami dislikes that."

I considered using one of the ideas I shelved earlier.

"Mizuko?"

Violent rejection.

"Seriously?! Am I a newborn?"

"No way. Even Manami does not want a name like that."

The two of them hi-fived.

I shot them a deadpan glare… More like I shot it at Two since I couldn't glare at Last Order even if she was not on my back.

Arghhhh come on brain! Think of a name!

A lightbulb.

"How about Akemi?"

* * *

"Hey Akemi."

"Hmm."

"How are we supposed to go about getting to Academy City like you wanted?"

Even though the rain of meteors had stopped, the ground was so riddled with craters and roads were so often blocked off by barricades and collapsed buildings that it was difficult to get by on a regular vehicle.

And don't get me started on the railways.

The pink haired girl however, did not share my view on the environment and looked at me as if I was an alien.

"We walk? It's just fifty one kilometers. We could get there in a few minutes." She said nonchalantly.

Nope. She is the alien.

I fought desperately not to facepalm as I was carrying a drowsy Last Order on my back. The poor girl can't sleep with all the shaking.

"You may not have noticed but I am a normal human."

She glanced at me from the corner of her eye and frowned.

"What do you mean you're normal...?"

"Eh?" The absurdity of her question made me feel like laughing. What do I mean I'm normal? Well, I'm normal!

"I mean, unlike you, I don't have any supernatural powers or anything." 'or like Yuriko' I added in my mind.

Last Order agreed with my statement. "Mm! Kano-nii is as normal as you can get! Manami supports his declaration of normalness."

Two, well, it's Akemi now, put her hands on her hips and gave me a once over. She stood stock still in front of me for a few minutes allowing my mind to wander.

Now that I look at her too, she's actually kinda hot. Her breasts were noticibly larger than Yuriko's even under her baggy clothes but probably no bigger than a B-cup. In addition to her slender figure and a face that could easily win beauty competitions... Stop.

I am going to have to kneel before Yuriko and apologize for my deeds.

But in my defense, I am a guy... Not that she'd accept a lousy reason like that.

Anyway, I can't possibly think of Tw-Akemi like that. She's not even human. Her real form may be some kind of tentacle monster or something similar... I shudder to imagine that happening.

Akemi however, seemed to have used the time I spent monologing in my mind and arguing with myself to come to a conclusion.

Pointing her index finger at my face, she started, "I guess that means you haven't realized your ability... Then again, according to both the old AND new testament of the bible the number six never appears anyways."

She seemed to be talking more to herself than to me though. Wait... What did she mean by old and new testament? Does she mean the bible? But not many people in Japan actually know much about the bible. The only ones I knew who read it were Touma's close and extended family... Though he himself didn't read it.

Akemi then pointed at my crotch. "And if you are aroused, please keep the little one away."

I almost dropped Last Order then and there. This girl...

Deep breath.

Endure...

Deep breath.

"Back to my original question, how do we get there, I doubt anything can traverse the roads..."

Akemi jumped over a pile of concrete and sliced an Element in two, shattering it's core as she went.

Walking with her was like watching a living, breathing action movie. The number of stunts she pulls off on the fly are unbelievable.

"Hmm... My sister is preparing a ship. Maybe we can hitch a ride and join her on the way to the City! Eh?"

She dashed across the road and stabbed a red Element even before I noticed it's core and fired a single round from one of her pistols at another one behind it. A bang followed by a shriek and the glistening noise of breaking glass notified me that the Element was eliminated.

Actually...

I spun around. Last Order was asleep already so I did not have to worry about her getting dizzy.

The City was completely silent. Apart from Akemi violently murdering a few Elements, there was not a single sound.

Something is off. Earlier, there were screams, shouts, crashes, explosions, gunfire and even the familiar boom of a tank gun firing but now... Everything was silent.

A soft tap on the floor beside me told me that Akemi was beside me once again.

"Akemi... Why is everything suddenly so quiet?"

Silence.

"Akemi?" I turned towards her and gasped.

Her shirt was torn down the middle and bits of armor were quickly materializing on her arms, back and legs.

Blood trickled down from her head in a slow but steady stream and she panted lightly.

"To answer your question, Kano-kun." Something was definitely off. She had never used my name before. "Everyone in this area, well, this district is either dead or hiding in their homes. The army had been annihilated."

My brain pushed the panic button and adrenaline pumped into my body. I started hyperventilating and immediately went on edge.

Everyone was dead?!

"What?! Everyone... Dead?"

Akemi nodded grimly and narrowed her eyes. The armor on her body had fully materialized except for a helmet.

Her armor was a cross between samurai armor and something a ninja would wear.

The familiar layered plates of metal on her shoulders, chest and back were obviously modified from samurai armor. Especially so, were the plates covering her waist and legs that I somehow identified as the Kusazuri and the Haidate.

However, her arms and legs were tightly wrapped in cloth and she wore a scarf that stretched outward and covered her shoulders and back armor. The scarf was also tied over her face and covered everything but her eyes and hair.

"Kano-kun. There is something here that is very, very dangerous." Her words were accentuated by a faint but rapid tapping that echoed around the street. "I have no idea how many of them there are but I do know that they played no small part in massacring dozens, if not hundreds or even thousands of people."

The tapping grew louder and was joined by low frequency growls and clicks.

I looked around quickly, not wanting to be caught by surprise. This is not something to be taken lightly if even someone like Akemi was wary of.

"RUN!"

A massive creature burst out from under a toppled office building and screamed. Segmented body. Hundreds of legs. Two horn-like fangs and smaller claw-like mandibles between them. A green core glowed brightly under a transparent layer of protection under its head. The Element continued to emerge from the ground even when a full twenty meters of its body towered up in the air.

There was no mistaking what it was based of; Centipede.

In the time it took for me to come to that conclusion, another shriek followed by another... And another... And another echoed through the silent city.

Four of those things?! How is Akemi going to... Where is she?

Multiple pings of metal and crystal clashing.

A crash.

I ran towards the source of it and found an injured Akemi holding herself up using the sheath of her long sword as a cane. Blood flowed from her forehead and the black cloth covering her mouth was soaked with a liquid that smelled strongly of iron. Her sword lay on the ground beside her, broken into three parts. She panted heavily and shakily prepared to unsheathe her two shorter swords before she noticed me.

"What did you do?!" I screamed even though I knew she had rushed forward to attack the enemy.

"I told you to *cough* run didn't?" Her voice was still light but she sounded like she was on the brink of fainting.

"Like I could! There were three more of those things and you just disappeared without saying a thing only to crash down looking like this?!"

The centipede Element screamed and lowered itself onto the ground. It's coming for us now. So were the other three I suppose.

"Kano-nii? What's going on?! Manami asks in panic."

Shit. Last Order is up too.

Brain. Think. Think, or you are going to die!

"Last Order. Hug my back with your legs and hold tight!" Immediately after I said that, felt legs wrap themselves around me. She's a smart girl. I ran towards Akemi, and scooped her up in my arms, catching her by surprise.

"Eh?! What are you doing boy!? I told you to run didn't I?!" The cloth covering her face had fallen and revealed her face that was flushed red with blood both inside and outside her body. Strangely, she felt rather light even with all that armor.

I kept silent and focused in running. If I replied her now, I'd run out of steam.

"Kano-nii they are coming closer, Manami warns!"

As she said that, I felt my left foot get stuck on something. My body lurched forward but my leg held me back, jolting me and making me drop Akemi and Last Order.

My face raced towards the floor in slow motion and the already dark floor in front of me grew darker as a shadow loomed over me.

This is where I die don't I? Heh… Its rather pathetic that I'm going to die because I tripped. What a joke…

Akemi struggled to get up from her fall and fired a few shots from her pistol that failed to even scratch the monster behind me.

'Hey, don't you have a promise to keep to Yuriko?'

Her face flashed before my eyes. Her beautiful pearly white skin, soft white hair, enchanting red eyes…

Fuck dying. Dying is for pussies.

My body acted on instinct in accordance with my thought processes.

White lines shot out of my palm and formed a one meter long blade that crackled and hummed. The air surrounding my body erupted into flames and scorched the Element behind me. The names of the two abilities I was using came to me naturally.

Slicing beam and Blast Furnace.

* * *

"Hey! Ka… yo… ka…"

My vision was fuzzy but I made out pink.

Ugh… Akemi?"

Slowly but surely, my hearing and vision gradually returned to normal. Though I can't help but nice the striking similarity between what I felt now and what I felt when the AAA fired just a few weeks ago.

"Kano! Don't you die on me!" Akemi's voice lacked her normal energy and sounded worried. Desperate even.

"Uuuuuuuu stop shaking me…"

She gasped and I felt arms wrapping around my neck, pulling me into an embrace. Warm liquid dripped onto my shoulder. I seemed to be in a storage area. The place was dark but was illuminated with candles revealing brick walls lined with shelves holding up large cardboard boxes.

"Thank god you're okay. I would have killed myself if you died on me…"

"Akemi?"

She sniffed and brought her face close to mine. She was still in her armor and it seemed like she had been crying for a while as her eyes were bloodshot and there were still a few bloodstains on her jaw. In contrast to her disheveled appearance, she seemed absolutely ecstatic that I was alright.

"What happened? I don't actually remember anything…" I admitted. My memories on what happened were either fuzzy or nonexistent.

Akemi set my head on the floor slowly and put a bottle of water on my lips. "Well, you used your ability for the first time in your life."

Oh I used my ability…

Wait…

WHAT?!

"I USED AN ABILITY?!"

Akemi smacked my head with the bottle. "The girl is sleeping. But yes, you you're your ability to save all three of us… Though you went completely berserk and destroyed all four of them even though they retreated after you beat the first one."

She was being very patient with me. And I was thankful. I myself am having trouble getting used to the fact that I actually used an ability.

"I am surprised though. The number six's power still hasn't been revealed and it turned out to be a dual skill. Impressive."

I cocked my head in confusion. Dual skill? "What is this 'Dual skill'?"

A water bottle smacked my forehead.

"It means what it says idiot. You have two abilities in one."

Two abilities… I put my left hand up in the air. Yes. I remember using an ability. White lines that extended from my hand to form a blade. Slicing blade? Beam? The name that came so naturally to me earlier failed to even surface in my memory.

"I don't think I can use it whenever I want though…"

Akemi nodded. "Yeap. You probably just used it thanks to your instincts."

She pushed my arm down and lay down next to me, using my outstretched arm as a pillow. Her body glowed and her armor was gone, replaced by her casual clothes. Except without her weapons.

"What happened after I did all that though?"

"You passed out so Last Order and I pulled you into a nearby convenience store and hid in the storage room."

Sensing a chance to make light of the situation, I made a quick jab at her. "So the strong girl that runs around doing acrobatics while killing monsters couldn't carry a skinny kid like me?"

I got a soft slap for that.

"Screw you. I was injured. Luckily I heal fast thanks to my ability so I could heal you too… Not that you needed any since you curb stomped them."

"Them?"

"The earth Elements you idiot!" Her voice sounded flustered. A little like Yuriko's when she got embarrassed. "Anyway, in terms of direct combat, I'm the weakest among my siblings." She mumbled the last part. Was she shameful that I was the one to save her and not the other way around?

I placed my chin on her forehead. Thankfully, she was shorter than me so it didn't look weird. "It's alright though. I bet that out of all your siblings, you're the most human."

"We are human though…"

Huh?

"I thought you were Element?" I asked. Shit… I hope I didn't offend her. I let out more than a little surprise in there than I meant to.

She shook her head and nodded… I'm not sure which but I think she did a little of both. "We were human but were modified by our master. We gained the strength of an Element as well as magical abilities like making armor and all but in the process, we lost all our memories of before the change."

So that's why she was so excited to be named. She had one once but had forgotten it. That's why she bled when she was injured and cried when she was sad. She was human.

I embraced her in a hug.

We stayed like that, lying on the floor in a comfortable silence for a few minutes.

"So how much of you is uh… Human and how much is Element?" I hope she wasn't offended by that but I wanted to know.

Luckily, she didn't seemed to mind and answered me right away. "We are human in every way except for our heart, lungs and nerves. Everything else is still human but is enhanced by chemicals and the sort. And yes, we also have a crystal core that is connected to our heart like the other Elements."

"You say 'we' as in your siblings?"

"Mmhmm! We were all once human after all."

"Will you die if your core was shattered?"

This one was met with a little hesitation but she answered me nonetheless.

"Yeah like a normal Element. But we can also die from human means like getting our head cut off and the sort. Though we won't die so easily from more minor things like blood loss since our bodies are enhanced."

That explained almost major question I had but there was still one last thing I wanted to know.

"Why do you want to get rid of your master though?"

Akemi buried her face in my chest and sighed. This seemed to be a touchy subject for her. But her actions showed that she trusted me.

"Because when she created us, we were a bit like robots so she let us wander around the city as she set about creating an army of Elements. We were meant to be control centers for each type of Element so we were an important part of her objective.

But after a few days, we eventually felt that we liked our freedom but she noticed it as well and tried to reset our brains so we'd be good little dolls for her but we had none of it. The four of us broke out of Academy City and my brothers ran to Osaka while my sister and I came here to Tokyo.

Two days after we left, our master attacked the Endymion and started launching her cannon fodder Elements down to destroy the cities."

Akemi seemed rather hesitant to continue so I offered her the chance to stop but she declined.

"It's fine. You deserve to know. Her aim was to use the Elements to flush out the one who killed her sensei."

Now I was the one who did not want her to continue. Flush out? Kill the one who killed her sensei? For some reason, I felt a lot of déjà vu in that statement.

"Her sensei was Kihara Noukan who led the Sample Shaggoth experiment. My master's name is Kihara Yuuitsu and the one she is trying to kill is the strongest naturally occurring supernatural being in this world; the Accelerator or as she is designated by her ability name, Vector Change."

My breath hitched when I heard that. Vector Change. That was the name of Yuriko's ability. That Kihara's goal was to destroy an entire city to find Yuriko?

Akemi looked at me in confusion. "Do you know that girl?"

I nodded.

"She is my close friend, Yuriko." I looked right into her eyes. "How do we get to Academy City."

Her eyes widened as she realized that our goals were becoming one and the same and I would be offering here my help no matter what happens.

Determination was quickly filling my body like a drug. A good drug.

"My sister is about to leave on a ship to Academy City in an hour or so. Now is as good a time as any to go." Akemi seemed to be getting excited as well. "She is at the Tokiwadai docks."

Tokiwadai. The name of the school sounds really familiar but I can't put a finger on it… Ah never mind. I'll find out when I get there.

"Well then, lets wake Last Order up and go!"

I am not going to let that woman harm Yuriko or anyone else anymore. I glanced at the girl getting off my chest. Her eyes were bright with hope. Hope that she could be free of a master that wanted her brain dead in a cell to be used for experiments. This girl was not fully human anymore but deep down, she still is and I know that. So if her life is on the line as well, it's even more of a reason to fight.

~~~~~~~~~~~~Iwao~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Ah... um... The fuck?"

The big black robot with green glowing lines holding up a building with one hand repeated himself patiently.

"My name is Four and I govern the ele-"

But I cut him off.

"I mean it seriously and earnestly alright big guy? The fuck?"

The guy who referred to himself as Four seemed to sigh and shook his head.

"I will allow you some time to recover. It seems like the concussion you received has rattled your brain and limited your rational thought processes."

Four dropped the building and allowed it to collapse over us but surprisingly, the concrete met with resistance and formed a dome around the two of us. The big guy sat down beside me and tended to his massive gun, checking if there was any dirt or dust on it.

"Hmph. Since you're giving me time to get my senses back to normal, would you kindly explain how I survived my fall?"

He cocked his head like one of those slow processing American robots that made you wait five minutes for an answer when you can find it yourself on the internet within five seconds.

"By using my control over earth, I can manipulate any and all object that is of natural origin ranging from metals to rock. As long as it came from the ground, I can control it and return it to the ground. However, in my current state, I can only manipulate objects I physically touch."

Now it was my turn to cock my head like a retarded Chinese robot. I understood all that about him controlling his element and all since he was obviously not human and was related to the Elements. That was just coming off his general appearance and the face that he is holding a DAMN AIRCRAFT WEAPON LIKE IT'S A RIFLE.

Ah… I am acting a little prissy aren't I? Must be because I hit my head.

"Okay Four, I understand all that but my question was 'How did I survive the fall' emphasis on 'the fall' I know you saved my from the collapsing building but how did I survive the fall?"

I kept silent on the fact that he said he was only capable of manipulating things by touch in his current state. In MY current state, I am incapable of thinking too hard and if I asked that now, it would be a waste of time.

"I changed the properties of the ground you were going to fall on." He explained in that boring robotic voice of his. "By making it have the same texture and density as soft mud, your personal armor was more than enough to keep you alive… Though it may not have been enough to protect your head."

Ah… So that's how he did it.

"Don't mind me Four, I'm just going to take a short nap. My head IS a little jumbled up right now."

The hulk of a robot nodded slowly. "No matter. I am to blame for not taking into consideration that your head protection may have been insufficient. Please do take a rest. I wish to work with you when you are at your best."

Somehow, I managed a smile and gave him a lopsided grin that he probably could not see because of my opaque visor.

Never mind, I'll thank him properly when I wake up.

* * *

I cracked open an eye.

Its dark…

I moved an arm to rub my eyes only to meet resistance.

Eh? Am I in combat armor? Did I fall asleep during match or… Oh… Right.

Memories from earlier rushed back to me.

Alien invasion. Meteors raining down from the skies. One-on-one match with said alien. Giant alien crocodile. Trying to get ahold of Maho. Falling building. Four.

I shot up into a sitting position. Looking around, it seems like I haven't been moved at all. My legs are a little numb from being stuck in an awkward position but generally fine. The area I'm in is far too dark to analyze as well. The only light in the nearby vicinity are the lights on Four's armor that seem to be pulsing in tandem with his heartbeat.

Speaking of Four, he was standing up and staring into thin air. He had a mysterious air to him… Almost as if he was looking far out into the outer reaches of space in search of something.

"Hey… Four." I tried to make my return to the land of the living a humorous one.

"Hello…" He stopped awkwardly. Oh I didn't tell him my name.

I stood up and walked up to him, offering a hand. "My name is Iwao Ikezawa."

He shook my hand. For an alien, he had rather good social etiquette. He has a good firm shake too. Though it is a little on the soft side if you take his body size into account.

"Hello, Ikezawa." Huh he chose my last name. Formal guy. "Shall we go about our objective?"

Eh? Our objective? Since when did we have a shared objective?

"And that objective is…?"

"The elimination of my master, Kihara Yuuitsu. The other three have already found aid and are on their way to confront her."

I thought about it for a second. Kihara Yuuitsu… Where have I heard that name before?

"Is this… Kihara the one behind the meteor rain?" I ask him.

Four nodded in confirmation and added, "She and her teacher, Kihara Noukan were also responsible for the failed invasion of Tokyo."

My eyes widened. She was the one… "What happened to that Noukan?"

"He is deceased. His student, Yuuitsu is now searching for vengeance on those that killed him and thus, created me and my siblings."

I raised an eyebrow. "So why are you and your sibling trying to overthrow her?"

"Because she initially created us as command centers for all the Elements but eventually decided, we would be better off as super powered zombies. Luckily for us, we had been out and about for some time and rejected that thought. We prefer freedom as opposed to whatever she wants for us."

He seemed to be skipping a few details but his story checks out. Who wanted to be a mindless animal?

"I guess we are on the same page then." I patted his shoulder and grinned sinisterly.

So she was one of the two that killed Reina eh?

Blood rushed through my veins. I was already getting excited on revenge even before we set out. My brain must be in really bad shape eh?

Even Four seemed to notice but he kept silent.

"Let's go then. Open up this barrier." I commanded him.

Four waved his hand and a walkway out of our makeshift bunker emerged. I quickly crawled out and scanned the area for any available vehicles or weapons. I saw my old rifle lying on the floor, completely broken. Sighing, I buried it under the collapsed building and grabbed a random gun from a dead soldier on the ground.

A F347-0 shotgun. Pretty good weight and splash. If I did it right, I could probably eliminate a smaller Element easily with this weapon. Satisfied with my find, I slung it on my soldier and took all the ammunition from the fallen soldier while dumping my incompatible rifle ammunition on the floor next to him.

"What happened to all the Elements?" I ask Four as I strapped the magazines down. Don't want them falling on the ground as I walk do I?

"They were drawn away by a large group that left thirty minutes ago. They had one of my siblings with them. He took out the large Element that you encountered."

"Mm…"

The environment around me looked a little like a moonscape. Just looking at the street in front of me and not counting the buildings, there were already seventeen… No, eighteen craters on the ground. Smoke snaked out of buildings like reapers with a vengeance swallowing the clouds and turning the sky pitch black.

Wait a minute.

"The meteors have stopped falling?"

Four nodded gravely. "The assault ended not long ago. It seems that an ally or an enemy has attacked Yuuitsu herself."

Someone else was attacking her? No. Only I am allowed to kill her. To take from her what she stole from me. I continued to scan my surroundings and was rewarded with a sight for sore eyes.

A Hornet-1. It was a modified motorcycle for military use that was launched only last year. Even then, it was not issued to the police and only the army had them as a reconnaissance vehicle. The main reason why this was so is because the damn thing is expensive. Instead of using two wheels like a motorcycle, the Hornet levitated in the air using electrostatic technology like some Objects did. This allows the Hornet to achieve speeds of over two hundred kilometers per hour.

Thankfully, I had an acquaintance in the army that let me try one out. It was amazing.

"Do you need a vehicle Four?"

The man shook his head.

"I can move pretty fast on my own."

Grinning madly, I picked up the Hornet and righted it. A single push of a button on where the gas tank for a normal motorcycle would be started it up. An electric hum resonated in the air as the bike floated up into the air.

I checked the sides and cursed. This was one of the full recon ones. I thought they modified almost all of them to the Hornet-1.1 already. Those had small machine guns on the side of the vehicle that could be commanded by a thumb button.

The bike was not controlled by handlebars and instead had two control sticks that resembled those on fighter jets or joysticks instead. They moved simultaneously so if you pushed the left one, the right one would move as well. For the 1.1 version, two buttons on the top of each stick were used for controlling the guns. Simple enough right?

I hopped on the bike and slid my hands into the covered controls. The control sticks were covered with a plate of sleek, angled armor that protected both your hands and the controls. Pretty neat eh?

But before I shot off, I took off my helmet and revealed a certain picture. I ran my finger on her face before folding it back up and taping it back in my helmet. My hands formed a fist as I remembered all the times I spent with Reina.

Reina… You died protecting your sister in a world where you shouldn't even need to throw your life away for someone else. Don't worry though, I'll make whoever was behind it pay dearly for their sins.

I slammed my helmet back on my head and wrapped my fingers around the controls. My rage was blinding my perception on things but I did not care. Morals and all that bullshit comes later. Payback comes first.

"You better be fast Four. Good luck keeping up." I shouted at him before shooting off on the Hornet.

Kihara Yuuitsu… It's nice to know the name of the person you're going to kill.

~~~~~~~~~Mikoto~~~~~~~~~

"Three! Help me grab that!"

Footsteps.

"Which one is 'that'?" She asked in confusion of my vague instructions.

Working with someone you didn't know well is really hard. Misaka was able to discern which tool I wanted just from the tone of my voice.

And not knowing the exact names of the tools didn't help my situation.

"Ehhhhh... The power tool with foldable drill bits?"

Yeah. Thats even more vague. Pretty much all of the power tools had either folding or rotating parts.

A familiar friendly voice came to my aid. "She means this one, Three. Sorry about her... Vagueness?"

I poked my head out of the railgun turret.

Saten-san and Uiharu were explaining the different types of tools that were laid out on the deck.

Why were they here you ask? Well, they were not the only ones here. Pretty much the entire crew of the Railgun were going about their preparations for combat.

Large cranes carried crates of 45 calibre ammunition for the standard guns while smaller ones loaded torpedoes into their respective tubes. One of the crew, was using the Exo-suit I was using earlier to switch out the anti-aircraft guns with newer, larger ones on the 90° maximum elevation open 'Matsu' type gun mountings.

When is my new ammunition coming though... I heard that Misaka and her bridge crew were melting down some of the old arcade coin sized disks and upsizing them to 35mm rounds.

"Hey Mikoto! Don't torment Three alright?" Saten-san tossed the power tool I was looking for at me.

Luckily, it was rather light and I caught it... Barely.

I screamed at her in surprise. "Then don't go throwing tools like that around! Someone could die if they get hit."

She gave me a challenging smirk of her own. "Then how about you do your work without making people wait on you."

"!"

"!"

"Hmph."

The both of us folded our arms and pouted at each other, barely being able to maintain our façades before bursting into laughter.

Three scratched her helmet in confusion with our antics. She had horrible social skills.

"What are you doing to the railgun anyway Mikoto-san?" Uiharu asked.

I wiped a tear from the corner of my eye and curbed my laughing. "I uhh... Upgraded the initial launch velocity of the round so that the magnets can accelerate the round to even higher speeds and increased the caliber of the gun so it can fire larger rounds that have a longer range... Though it is a violation of Haifuri rules."

She seemed alarmed from my explaination and waved her arms.

"Doesn't that mean that the Railgun won't be able to participate in matches anymore because the gun is too strong?"

Saten-san shook her head and place a hand on Uiharu's shoulder. "Nope. We have another one of the identical gun that hasn't been upgraded so we can just mount that one on the Railgun during matches."

"Yeah! And now, we have something that can take down Five Overs!" I joined in to reassure her.

Uiharu nodded in understanding and returned to her team who were mounting the new anti-aircraft gun.

After most of the crew left Misaka and I, they had tried to leave the school as we were the only ones left but the gates were locked. Thinking that the guards were taking a nap, they climbed up to the watch towers that kept visitors out of the Tokiwadai docks but found it empty.

At that time, the meteors started falling and they ran into one of the storage buildings for cover. Luckily, it had an underground cold storage for the torpedo's oxygen fuel so they managed to weather out the storm.

When Three came down however, she had killed off the creatures that fell from the skies called Elements and found them huddled, half frozen in the cold room.

She had explained her situation to us and enlisted our help to take her to Academy City. By the way, most of them only agreed to help after realizing that if they went out on their own, they'd be eaten by the monsters falling from space.

Call me crazy but I found that really amusing.

I looked up and watched as the cold, dark clouds gathered. A storm was brewing...

There were not many lights coming from the city as usual but roars of fires coming from what were once gas stations or chemical processing plants covered the city in a flickering, sickly orange light that threatened to spread uncontrollably.

I for one was worried about myself and Misaka but another part of me wanted to go and find my parents and my other sisters.

Three looked out in the distance and seemed to be talking to someone but made no sound.

Dismissing my troubled thoughts, I crawled back into the gun turret and set about the finishing touches on my upgrades.

* * *

Fingers rapped on the thick metal behind me.

"Mikoto-sama, I have some news."  
"Mikoto, I got you something."

Three's soldier-like voice and Misaka's bored, monotonous one said simultaneously.

"Just tell me from there. I'm screwing something."

I reflected in my words... That definitely came out wrong but… Meh. The two of them were equally bad at noticing such things.

"My sister is joining us on our voyage to Academy City." Three explained first. "She and two others intended to hitch a ride."

I raised an eyebrow and wiped my sweat on my shirt. "You have a sister?"

"Mm. She is just like me and the two others are the people she had enlisted for help."

Well, I had no qualms with bringing them along but the final decision went to Misaka. She was the captain of the Railgun while I operated the weapon that gave it its namesake.

"Ask Misaka. She's the captain."

A muffled conversation seemed to be taking place outside and it ended just as quickly as it began with Three's heavy footsteps tapping away.

I tied up the last few loose wires and made sure that every part was snugly fitted before covering it with a waterproof casing and welding it shut. It will be a pain to open up later but it will ensure that the wiring won't get short circuited. My hands ran over the metal casing. No bumps or scratches.

Perfectly done if I do say so myself.

I crawled out of the cramped turret and found myself staring into Misaka's eyes.

"What happened? And where's Three?"

"I accepted her reasons and agreed to wait for an hour till her sister arrives. The boilers need time to warm up anyway. As for Three, she went off to check if any Elements found their way in."

Hmm... Having Three's sister... Would be a great help. If she was anything like Three, she would have incredible power and would increase our chances of survival immensely. It's a win-win situation. More protection for my friends and I while Three and her sister sister could have a free ride to Academy City.

A lightbulb lit up in my head. "Oh yeah! You said you had something for me?"

Misaka cracked a small smirk and revealed a small round around the size of a rifle bullet. She dropped it onto my open palm and my eyes widened from the weight. It was a dark brown and in contrast to its tiny size, weighed in at a minimum of five kilograms.

"You made this?" I say. It was impressive. Something like this, when launched from the railgun could do massive damage. Now taking into account its shape that minimized air resistance, allowing it to go faster and making it harder to burn up at the same time, it was a weapon that could put fear into the hearts of armies.

She simply shrugged and pulled out the remaining half of me that was still inside the turret. "I made five. Don't waste them alright?"

I hugged my sister in thanks. Where can you find a sister who custom made tungsten bullets for your railgun? She's a treasure.

"Thanks Misaka."

"Mm."

I looked out at the night sky. The rain of meteors had stopped long ago and the clouds had already gathered into one large storm that was quickly making its way towards us. Flashes of lighting created stunning displays every now and then.

But instead of feeling dread and fear of the fighting that was sure to come, I felt strangely calm and ready for whatever was about to happen.

The same clouds that looked to desolate and dreary just moments ago looked a little pathetic now that I had my confidence restored by my sister's presence. I clenched my fist and envisioned firing the Railgun. The very thought of firing it was more than enough to make me break into a grin.

Misaka ruffled my hair and waved me goodbye before running back to the bridge.

I plopped down and leaned on the beautiful piece of weaponry that I had created. The Ship's deck was completely cleared of tools and looked sparkling clean. The others really did a good job.

As I stared at the red flag flapping valiantly in the wind, words that Three had told me in private echoed vividly in my mind. 'My master was also responsible for the invasion of Tokyo in an experiment to test a biological weapon.'

Memories of the original invasion that killed my sister weeks ago relit a flame in my heart. This time however, I will not be on the backlines firing a pathetic little shot at a goliath of a flying fortress. This time, I will be the ones responsible for Reina's death a tasty tungsten gift.

Heh. Once Three's sister arrives, the fun begins.

~~~~~~~~~~Dark Matter~~~~~~~~~

"We're here."

Fraulein yawned and stretched. "Took us long enough... Are those two even awake yet?"

I sighed. The three of them are far too relaxed.

My flies around the cities have determined that the meteors are based of Dark Matter that had been meddled with magic. Two sides that shouldn't have crossed paths. As Aleistier would say, 'The talented and the untalented should never cross paths'.

I melted my current body and made a new one to wake the two of them up.

"Oi! You two better not be asleep? Eh?"

To my surprise, the two of them were in the middle of a game of chess. At least it's better than having them sleeping... EH?!

"OI! WE HAVE SERIOUS BUSINESS HERE!"

In my seven thousand year long life, I have never seen anyone so... Ugh... I don't even want to describe them.

Grabbing their collars and crushing the chest set with a giant mallet, I disintegrated the Beetle we were in and dropped them on the ground.

"Aw c'mon! I was three turns away from winning!" Mugino fired three Meltdowners at me.

I batted them away with a flick of my hand and hit Aleistier on the head.

"Don't you need to hide?"

He waved me off and teleported behind me. "Nahh! I'll be fine. Where are we anyway?"

We are currently in a tunnel that was dug out by my Beetles. Directly five meters away above us was the Endymion space elevator where the source of the Elements was.

"Under the Endymion." I told him proudly.

Aleistier's eyes widened upon hearing that. Mugino facepalmed and Fraulein yawned.

"Seriously? How far down are we?" His tone was panicked.

"About five meters below the base magnets." I said innocently, not knowing what entailed.

The Endymion was not supported by simple beams and pillars on a concrete foundation like other buildings. Because it is so damn big that it reaches orbit, it has to be supported by super powerful magnets that rooted it to the ground. In addition to the magnets, three destructible beams also held it to the ground.

"Oh crap."

Both Aleistier and Mugino sighed loudly and stared up to the ceiling, preparing their staff and lasers respectively.

"Huh? What's going on?"

Mugino shook her head and shouted at me. "You damn idiot. If you wanted to stop, you have to enter the city at least ten kilometers below sea level. Fifteen to be safe!"

"Why?" Fraulein asked for me and prepared herself as well seeing that the two of them were getting ready for combat.

"Because the damn underline scans a good kilometer below sea level at all times on default!" Aleistier uncharacteristically shouted as the ceiling collapsed due to a few metric tons worth of missiles, bombs, bullets, railgun shells, massive swords, spears and axes and even weightless laser beams came raining down on us.

"HAHAHAHA! ALEISTIER! SO YOU SURVIVED SENSEI'S ATTACK! HOW WILL YOU FARE AGAINST MINE?!"

Time slowed as I focused on the enemy and got ready for the fight of my life, a massive silhouette loomed over the four of us and I heard the sound of batteries charging up power for an attack.

As the ground burned up, a single woman surrounded by a spiderweb of machinery that had the same texture as flesh floated in midair, supported by said machinery that held itself up with towering legs. Weapons of all sorts fired and were destroyed the moment they ran out of ammunition but even then, they were sprouting out of her back at such speed that the overall number of weapons was increasing by the second. On one of the larger guns, the words 'Dog's Life' was engraved along its barrel. On another, it was 'Anti-Art-Attachment-2.0'. Behind the woman's back, in addition to all the weapons mind you, was something like a blooming flower that had seven petals.

I looked at the others to see what they were doing.

Aleistier slammed his staff on the ground and was instantly protected by a transparent bubble that either reflected or absorbed the attacks. His face betrayed no fear or panic even as the murderous voice screamed his name.

Mugino used her Meltdowner to absorb any and all attacks coming her way and retaliated with more than a few lasers of her own.

Fraulein, like me, simply took the attacks head on. Her body was made of Dark Matter with properties strong enough to withstand the Babylonian's bombastic impression of the creation of the world that I read about when I got bored; Enuma Elish. She has no need to fear of getting damaged. And if there was a chance of her getting damaged, I would have her returned home in an instant.

But she dared to challenge me in a game of numbers? Did you think you can beat the ability that rivalled creation itself in a duel of production?! Kihara Yuuitsu?!

In exactly fifteen milliseconds, I created sixty thousand car-sized Rhinoceros Beetles, each with anti-tank or anti-aircraft guns. As a safety measure, I summoned another theory thousand with anti-fortress level weaponry in the next five milliseconds and prepared to create an alternative to a hydrogen bomb.

But my ambitions and pride were completely crushed as thousands of meteors fell from the sky. No... They weren't falling from the sky. They were falling from orbit. They came crashing down towards us, destroying a large number of my beetles. I will never let a fraud beat an original. Like the one friend I considered my only equal in combat ability said, 'You can never beat the original with an imitation no matter how good it is.'

A three-dimensional compass materialized in my vision, its arrow spinning a mile a minute. After a few moments, it slowed down and the arrow forcefully turned downwards at a ninety degree angle before glowing white.

My mouth split into a lopsided grin and my clothes turned into simple robes. The color of my pure white hair changed to the color green and my eyes turned the same color. A vision that was not really a vision but more of a memory crossed my mind.

A blond haired man with a perfectly proportioned body and full gold plated armor holding a conical red sword of destruction in one hand and gold chains that could bind a god in his other. This was a memory from my time six thousand years ago. This is a memory of the half-god Gilgamesh, the fifth King of Uruk.

I am not going to let you down brother. This is an enemy that I can beat!

Six massive angelic wings emerged from my back and millions of white swords materialized out of thin air.

I am Dark Matter.

"KIHARA!" I shouted at her. "DO NOT UNDERESTIMATE THE POWER OF A LEVEL FIVE!"

My wings flapped once and I launched myself at her, deflecting her bullets with swords, her missiles with spears and lasers with shields. Yes, they were powerful, yes, they destroyed my hastily made Dark Matter easily but I had one thing she never can have; the true power of creation.

Anyway, they lacked the edge and power of the weapons a certain king threw at me from his gate.

As the rush of battle consumed my senses, my grin grew ever larger and my attacks more brutish and yet more agile and swift. Yuuitsu's eyes widened in both panic and surprise and the flower on her back started to rotate but I paid it no heed.

After all, I battled a god once and came to a draw. What can a mere woman achieve?

Advanced weaponry clashed with ancient weapons. One would have expected a clear winner but the sheer numbers of weapons ranging from bullets to swords to missiles was so immense that a no man's land was quickly created.

"Hmph."

My name is Enkidu. And I will lose to no one but him!

* * *

A.N. Hihi! Sorry that this is so late! I have exams coming in late October and I gotta study! But by no means does this mean I'll stop writing. After all, I write my stories on my phone so every time I have free time like when I'm on the bus or train or when I want to watch anime just before I sleep, I'll be writing.

The next chapter will be out on the 15th of November… plus minus so wait for me alright?

Another reason why im late is because I've been writing well, more! (With this chapter coming in at 21k words!) I hope that all of you whom have read this story of mine from chapter one have felt that I've improved. Even if it's by a little, tiny bit.

And since the last one didn't have much of a AN, I'm gonna make up for that in this one.

The basis of this chapter is showing how each character copes with the problem in their own way and showing the way each of the four human Elements act. Except for Iwao and Four who got almost no show time compared to the rest but that's because Maho-sama took up most of his time. I also hope you liked the little background I made between Maho and Iwao. I figured that the readers would rather know a little more about a few non-to aru characters that have a big impact on the story than reading about me making a character they already know and love OOC.

WELL, IT IS A BIG 'I HOPE' SOOOOO YEAH! XD

[P.S. I hope no one was offended by Iwao's description of robots. I had to use such examples because 1) He is a guy that curses and insults others a lot. 2) IRL, Japan and America are the leaders in robot development but in this AU (and the original to aru) Japan is the sole leader in such development thanks to Acad. City so what is considered fast to others is considered slow AF to him, thus the mean comparisons.]

I also hope that the little action scene at the end was a good enough cliff hanger. (Don't worry, I've started on the first bit of the next chapter and I've decided that the opening 2-3k words will be a nice, good fight scene... I hope I can do it. Go me! (The compass thingys that appear when Yuriko and D.M. get serious are part of the plot and will be explained in the next chap.)

And at the end, you would have noticed that I decided to name the Dark Matter in my story Enkidu. Those of you who know about the fate series is sure to know about his friend, Gilgamesh and if you do some digging, you will find a nice story about Gilgamesh and his adventures with the clay doll Enkidu. I felt that Enkidu was an appropriate name and character for the Dark Matter in my AU since he is genderless, has an indestructible body that can only be destroyed by the gods that created him, can create weapons and more out of clay and will only go all out against a respectable opponent in this case, a crazy Yuuitsu with an AAA sprouting from her back.

(Fun fact, if you read the novels [especially the NT], you may understand what the flower represents. The seven petals is a dead giveaway too. But if it was too vague and you couldn't get it, don't worry about it. It will be shown in the next chap.)

As for Haimura being the number six level five… You have no idea how hard I laughed when I saw this;

Kano haimura is a level 5 dual skill.  
315227

I had no choice but to implement him as one the moment I saw that. IM SORRY HAHA! His two abilities are Slicing beam- It was used by Kiyama Harumi (the glowing sword hand in the anime) and Blast Furnace- another name that I thought of for a level five pyrokinest. (like how the electromaster ability is called the Railgun when it achieves level 5[albiet because Mikoto wanted it])

As for Akemi talking about the old and new testament… if you don't get the reference to a certain story I am going to slap you.

OKAY NOW ITS TIME FOR YOU TO SPECULATE WHAT WILL HAPPEN IN THE NEXT ONE SO GOOD DAY TO YOU! (stupidity overload eh?)

And yes, I will always reply to reviews so please drop me one if you liked this one or want to voice your opinion, be it negative or positive =)

MarkJ: I hope I don't come off as rude but I think your computer may have screwed up your review because it is... a little jumbled. But even so, I can tell that you were saying good things about that last chapter so thank you!

Once again, thank you everyone who read the story and favourited/followed/both. You have been a big help in boosting my morale and giving me a drive to write. I doubt I would have been able to go from a badly written high school flick of a fic to something like this without all of you so thank you! (a 'meh'ly written action fic about highschool kids)

Oh yeah, did you notice the little quote i put in from a certain arc called 'agitate halation'? If you can remember that volume, im sure you can guess what the petals on Yuuitsu's back are hehe.

As thanks again for reading through this super long A.N. that is almost as long as my first chapter, here's a hug, some chocolate and a blow kiss from Yuriko-chan. ;D

(I really set a super high bar for myself for the next chap haven't I =,=)


	23. Chapter 22

A.N. Hello everyone and thanks for coming to read this new chap. Please read the main A.N. below as there are some things I want you to know.

Seriously. Read the A.N. down below.

Now, I hope you enjoy the story!

* * *

Chapter 22  
Dark Matter - Enkidu

Millions of bullets filled the air. The noise of so many weapons firing at once would have deafened a normal human several times over but all of us here are... Not exactly that.

Either way, I can't complain about this situation. It was one of many tactics to eliminate an enemy to be honest. Most people would rely on a single powerful hit or a deadly snipe but this woman over here decided to go for the absolute overkill.

She used millions upon millions of attacks that are fatal to normal foes and not only directed them at her targets but completely filled the air with them.

If I moved, I would lose an arm and more. If I didn't, I would turn into Swiss cheese.

Lose-lose situations for the win.

"Oi, stop daydreaming and make us an opening you idiot!"

That annoyed exclamation was barely audible but it carried much more weight than normal words as that sentence was accompanied by five thick cylindrical lasers that would completely obliterate any matter that was made up of atoms.

The Meltdowner.

As for the woman that said those words, Mugino had used her Meltdowner as an umbrella-shaped shield that protected her from the rain of projectiles.

It helped to destroy any and all metal rounds and even lasers as light had photons that could be destroyed (Well not really destroyed but you get my drift... Right?) and manipulated but that was a whole new topic to discuss.

Only a gemstone with the power called 'Hard light' or 'Vector Change' could consider manipulating light.

Well, in addition to the shockwaves from impacts of high explosives and conventional weaponry going off beside her, it didn't help matters for Mugino when meteors the size of buses and sometime bigger rained down from the top of the Endymion.

I guess that the Endymion really is where Yuuitsu is deploying them from. My guesses are always right.

Those meteors revealed themselves to be massive, transparent creatures that blended into the environment to conceal their glowing points.

Before you ask, yes, I did send out my own army of Beetles and other insects to fight them but swathes of my army were destroyed by both the enemy soldiers, AAA weaponry and the enemy soldiers themselves every second.

But in the end, it all came down to my inexhaustible creation of levitating swords that launched themselves autonomously at Yuuitsu as my own army of insects crawled, scuttled and flew around the cramped space that was the both the crater we were stuck in and the arena we will battle in.

It goes without saying that it was the swords that did most of the work against Yuuitsu.

While my insects could fight, they were busy contending with the myriads of different types of modified Dark Matter creatures Yuuitsu was dropping down on me.

I bent my body in a manner that would kill a normal person in order to avoid taking a shell to the face. Not that it would kill me or anything.

"Hurry up! I want to shoot her in the face sooner or later!" Mugino interrupted my thoughts again. I liked to think while fighting. Maybe it's because I can't actually die or anything of the sort that made me unable to focus wholeheartedly on a battle.

A flurry of bullets tore up my torso.

"That... Is irritating you madwoman."

Yuuitsu simply grinned, revealing surprisingly white teeth and making the flowers on her back spin even faster.

A part of me was telling myself that that flower of hers is bound to bring me more than a little bit of trouble and I should be going about destroying it as soon as possible but another part wanted to see what it could do.

Then again, if she didn't reveal the secret behind that flower, I can just dissect her after I'm done.

"Hehehe. You'd better pay more attention then boy. Or should I say..." She moved several spent on barrels in front her body in an attempt to create a makeshift shield "... You mud doll."

My eyes widened.

How the hell does she know?

No one could have known about that. It happened a few thousand years ago. Back when writing was limited to chipping off stone blocks.

Her eyes gleamed with a twisted form of the childish excitement that kids showed when they found out something new. A bit like how a sadistic kid would cut an earthworm into tiny pieces just to watch it squirm.

"I guess that legend was correct." She mused openly. "'The Epic of Gilgamesh.' It's hard to believe but I am surprised that sensei's research into supernatural abilities actually had resources that dated back to ancient times."

Sensei? Is that the... Dog? Kihara Noukan?

My mind started to wander again and my body was shredded to ribbons but I simply created a new one and half-heartedly launched a few swords at her that shattered upon getting hit by battleship-class rounds.

Aleister seemed to be annoyed with me wasting time and created some kind of magical link to my ear. "Number two. I know you are affected by her words but can you please take this seriously. If you don't mind, could you draw her fire for a moment to allow Mugino and I to fight back?"

Why did he call me number two all of a sudden... Ah well, I said I would get serious but I haven't actually fought properly yet haven't I?

My wings that had been shredded by countless attacks reshaped themselves and flapped once, pushing me towards Yuuitsu.

'Create a shield. It's level is single-personnel.'

A barrier a like a police shield materialized in front of me and took the brunt of the attacks but it started cracking immediately under the immense stress caused by so many attacks hitting it at once.

Behind the shield, Yuuitsu laughed haughtily as even more weapons wore out and moved in front of her as shields while others sprouted from her back and started firing.

She may be kind of attractive but that woman is far too cocky for my tastes. Fraulein is much more suited to my tastes.

Anyway, I'd better up my ante. I DID say I was going serious didn't I?

'Create me a shield. Its class is castle.'

The shield broke away and in its place stood a barrier that was more like a massive wall than a simple barrier.

This is a shield that was meant to withstand tests of time. A shield that can easily handle such small arms fire and give me right of passage to... whack... her...

The guns that were once firing simultaneously stopped. A buzzing noise filled my ears because of the sudden lack of noise before they bombarded me with sound on the level of a rocket taking off.

All of those machine guns and gatling guns had been dumped by Yuuitsu and in their place stood turrets that looks more fitting to be on a battleship than on scrawny limbs.

Each of them formed up a few meters behind Yuuitsu and when they fired, the amount of sound was deafening. Each hit from the rounds that measured a good two meters in diameter hammered my barrier so much so that it shattered upon the first bombardment.

'Create me a shield.' A round whizzed past my face. 'Its level is... Fuck it.'

I gave up on the idea of barriers.

If this kept up, no matter how strong a barrier I created, it would do no good since she would just come up with weapons that defied logic to destroy them. Heck. And since she is using an Anti-Art-Attachment, even if I brought out a barrier that was on planetary levels, she could simply bring out that magically enhanced super-railgun of hers that can shatter even the toughest element of this world and then some without problems.

And even if my power is supposed to create something 'not of this world', Yuuitsu may be able to rival that since she is theoretically using the same power as me... Though she lacks imagination and only creates guns.

Wait a minute...

She only creates guns.

Heh.

My body turned to mush and I focused my consciousness onto the tip of a torrent of liquid Dark Matter.

If a solid body cannot get through the wall of bullets, why not try a liquid?

Yuuitsu jumped back in panic and reactivated her entire arsenal which she was saving for a last resort. She could not afford to let me close the gap between us. There was no doubt on who would win in hand-to-hand combat. Her mouth moved in what looked like a curse since I couldn't hear her and had to guess from her oral movements.

But now, there was a new addition to her assortment of weapons; the massive ninety meter long battery that formed the signature weapon of the AAA, the railgun that reached the level of being a mass driver.

Heh. But now, I'm close enough to render ranged weapons useless.

'Create me a sword. Its level is anti-personnel.'

A large blade resembling a certain holy sword that I saw on one of my last travels materialized and I brought it down upon Yuuitsu's head. Strangely, it was brilliantly coloured with splashes of blue, silver and gold despite me not making the calculations add color to it.

Ah screw it. As long as it does its job it's fine.

The blade slammed down on the crisscrossing gun barrels, barely managing to cut through just five.

"Tch."

'Create me a spear. Its level is anti-personnel.'

If I can't cut through, I'll pierce her right through.

The spear, like the sword was oddly colored. It was a beautiful dark mellow maroon with strange sigils and a light gloss.

'Strange. I simply based them off weapons I saw on some of my journeys around the world.' I thought to myself as I thrust it forwards into an apparent weak spot in Yuuitsu 's defense.

My spear squeezed past the first layer of her defense and forced it's way through several of her hollow shields but finally met it's match when it met the twisted remains of a battleship gun that one of my insects damaged.

Yuuitsu was sweating profusely now. Out of panic or fear? I have no idea. A mixture of those and some other things? Most likely.

Anyway, this will be the one to end it.

For the second time in my life, I said aloud the words that allowed me to create instead of chanting them in my mind or making calculations.

If the earlier weapons I created came with color thanks to me remembering their exact properties and measurements, this weapon will be the grandest of them all.

Fueled by newfound confidence, I shouted with an uncharacteristically sadistic grin.

"Bring to my hand the sword known as Ig-Alima, the Mountain Felling Sword."

~~~~~~~~~Aleister~~~~~~~~~

A few hundred miscellaneous objects ranging from metal to water bounced off my barrier but I paid them no heed. I didn't have to. They are nowhere near capable of penetrating a barrier constructed on the basis of the Book of the Law. Only something on the level of the AAA could hope to penetrate it, furthermore giving me more confidence.

Yuuitsu may have an Attachment of her own but it is a lousy counterfeit made of Dark Matter. Only Noukan had a truly working one that could harm me. Hers lacked the power to go through a simple Greek spell like the summoning of Rho Aias.

How do I know?

Because this world's magic and science are so closely connected that they are basically the same.

I never noticed it till now but when the number two had summoned legendary weapons based on a simple legend, there actually was a slight magical output.

When the boy 'created' a sword earlier, it wasn't made of Dark Matter. Not only was there colour to show that it was not his creation, but a burst of magical energy had been released by the weapon upon it appearing in its hand.

This boy has merged a 'scientific' ability with a 'magical' summoning spell. A normal gemstone like the number one or four would have died upon using magic but Dark Matter's immortality and lack of a physical body allowed him to bypass that and venture into something I had not experimented on in the old world.

Dark Matter let go of the sword and summoned a spear based on the legend of Gäe Bolg. And just like his earlier summoning of Caliburn, it lacked the ability it should have been able to project had it been summoned by me or a competent magician like that Birdway in the old world.

Damn it. I have to stop thinking of the old world.

Suddenly, all of the Attachment's weapons stopped harassing us three. Instead, they pointed at Dark Matter and Dark Matter alone. They even stopped firing on his army of insects and focused their fire on him.

Why?

Because the damn kid summoned... Or in scientific terms, created a sword that was large enough to slice... No, smash an entire forest into nothingness.

Ten meters in width. More than a hundred in length. Based on a Mesopotamian legend.

It was pure black with a grey serrated edge and had dark green glowing symbols stretched across its length. The hilt was far too large for a normal human to hold but somehow, the normal sized boy managed to lift it up by its ten meter long handle and slam it down on Yuuitsu.

I snorted. Impressive display for a kid.

Good thing he decided to go for brute force instead of something like Ea which requires a magician's handling. For someone with no experience with magic, creating that is truly the best option.

I heard several noisy footsteps. "What the hell are those weapons?" Mugino tapped my shoulder.

Fraulein also stepped up beside me, seemingly appearing out of nowhere and staring at me with those inquisitive eyes of hers. "Those are not his creations..."

Smiling, I nodded and kept my eyes trained on the white boy wearing nothing but white robes hefting a sword the size of a building and slamming it down on a few thousand crisscrossing gun barrels of various sizes.

"He is unknowingly using magic. Those weapons were true weapons of legend but needed a magician's touch to activate their true power. The first sword should have been able to release a blast of energy powerful enough to level a castle while the spear should have been able to pierce her heart no matter the resistance."

I quickly cast a spell to keep the three of us rooted to the ground.

Ig-Alima came down on Yuuitsu and the resulting shockwave kicked up several tonnes of dust into the air. Immediately after, a second shockwave and a mind numbingly loud clap of thunder caused by the mass driver firing followed by yet another one caused by the drill making contact with the sword.

The three of us puny humans were completely enveloped by the dust cloud but thankfully, Dark Matter seemed to have thought about us in advance and had several beetles act as take the brunt of the side effects of their clash.

He's a good kid.

Mugino scratched her head and spit on the floor in a very unladylike manner. "Call me cynical but somehow, I get the feeling that she's up and running."

"Without a doubt." I say.

Several bluish green orbs glowed in the air.

"Let's help him out."

Fraulein tapped my shoulder and gestured towards the two fighters. She was probably going to help in her own mysterious ways.

I nodded in acknowledgement and prepared one of the most powerful Catholic spells I knew.

It had one of the most powerful effects I had the pleasure of experiencing thanks to that irritating woman of the old world's Necassarius; Dragon's breath.

"Fire." We say.

We let loose a good number of lasers in the general direction of Yuuitsu. If any of them hit, she'd be dead for sure. A beam that can slice through almost any material with ease and an ability that accelerated electrons to form a destructive attack. I have no idea what could survive a direct hit from either... Wait. I do.

Heh. Imagine breaker anyone?

I have to find the wielder of it in this world one day and make sure no weird powers come into contact with him and make a mess of things. I'd start by finding anyone with the name 'Kamijou Touma' I guess.

Though he'd probably be living a normal life since the number of supernatural beings and the people who wield such powers are few and far between in this world.

Now that I look back, the old world really was dangerous. Though far more exciting. Magicians lurked everywhere while the most powerful of espers had free reign over a city of espers.

The two of us fired around fifty or so beams before realizing that without vision, we had a higher chance of hitting the number two instead and stopped.

"I guess I'll try to dispel this cloud. 'Alignment to the front, I summon the north wi-eh?"

A strong gust of wind blew away the dust revealing a white boy floating in the air and staring at a woman surrounded with weapons that looked to have taken fatal damage.

Fraulein stood nearby them, surrounded by a pile of glass-like shards and had her hands stretched out. She had beaten me to the punch and ordered several Dark Matter dragonflies to blow away the dust.

Yuuitsu's mechanical arms that once pointed guns were now twitching or flopping in the ground uselessly. Even the mass driver looked spent with half of the battery blown apart (most likely because of the shockwaves caused by its own attack).

All Yuuitsu had now was her dirty labcoat, a pile broken machinery and a glowing flower on her back.

Dark Matter on the other hand, had gotten rid of the unwieldy block of stone of a sword and simply floated in the air and folded his arms in annoyance.

He must have expected that attack to eliminate her. Well, I did too so I can't blame him.

I prepared another Dragon's breath. With a clear view, I will not miss.

Mugino seemed to agree with my sentiment and fired numerous Meltdowners at Yuuitsu who blocked them with a flick of her wrist.

Wait...

Blocked it?!

"Ah... Haha... HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! IT REALLY WORKS! THIS USELESS LOOKING FLOWER ACTUALLY WORKS! SENSEI WAS RIGHT WHEN HE SAID THAT IT IS MUCH MORE POWERFUL THAN THE ATTACHMENT!"

My mind raced to make the connection... Actually I already did but refused to believe it. In reality, my mind raced to figure out how it managed to appear in this world.

Did Noukan seriously re-create Rensa in secret right under my nose without me noticing?!

~~~~~Enkidu/Dark Matter~~~~~

That woman...

"Ah... Haha... HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! IT REALLY WORKS! THIS USELESS LOOKING FLOWER ACTUALLY WORKS! SENSEI WAS RIGHT WHEN HE SAID THAT IT IS MUCH MORE POWERFUL THAN THE ATTACHMENT!"

I glanced at Aleister. His eyes were alike that of a goldfish. Looks like this was something even he didn't predict.

Looks like this will be a far bigger problem than expected.

"Hmm... The number three seems strong but kinda usless since there is nothing to manipulate" Yuuitsu mumbled to herself and pointedly fired lances of electricity in random directions. "How about the number seven?"

One of the seven flower petals that were glowing turquoise dimmed to nothingness and another glowed a brilliant orange with red and white highlights eerily imitating Sogiita's rising sun shirt.

But what did she mean by 'number three'? Was it some kind of ability? Or was she referring to a person?

I never got to finish that thought bubble though.

Yuuitsu turned into nothing more than a cloud of dust and a white blur before slamming her fist into my body, sending me to the ground at the glorious speed of Mach two.

A white beam shot towards her but she nimbly dodged it and punched the air in front of her, releasing a shock wave that made both Aleister and Mugino stumble back. Well, Aleister took a step back while Mugino semi-flew into the air but was held in place by some miracle. Most likely by Aleister's annoyingly confusing 'magic'.

Yuuitsu then kicked me into the air and followed it up with a flurry of punches that did not connect with my body but instead bombarded me with shockwaves alike those of a small explosion.

There was no explaination for this. She wasn't using any magic or the sort since Aleister wasn't warning me about anything and other than the flower on her back, she had no way of moving at this high speed and making punches like these...

Unexplainable?

Nonsensical?

Completely stupidly broken?

Isn't this... Sogiita's power?

A lightbulb went off in my head. Seven petals. Seven Level Fives. Turquoise - Electromaster, the third most powerful ability. Red, orange and white - Attack Crash, the seventh.

It all made sense now. That flower allowed her to use the abilities of the gemstones!

She stopped in her attack and dashed off to the other side of the crater. "Seems like the seventh can't really do much... How about the sixth?"

The seventh petal stopped glowing and the sixth one turned a glistening silver.

She was about to use the power of the sixth. A power that even I had trouble understanding. In the past, I had met wielders of the number Sixth's power and each of them, despite being able to have two abilities, had totally different ones.

Over the years, I had met several holders of the ability and none of them had two of the same abilities. One holder of the ability had telekinesis and teleportation while another, aero hand and liquid shadow.

But I do know that the number sixes could use two abilities. The abilities that they had were completely random though. For example, of the most powerful combinations I've seen were hard light and predator. Nothing could escape him and nothing could find him if he did not want to be found.

I have not met all of them because most of the wielders either do not manifest or use their abilities. Even if they had the ability, they stay hidden and live quiet lives. It was a common trait among all the people who gained that power.

In my opinion, they were the most dangerous of all the gemstones. Even more so than Vector Change users. Well… That's stretching it a little.

But it seems that Yuuitsu was unable to manifest her ability.

"Nothing is happening..." She cursed. "Useless ability."

That was quick.

Aleister and Mugino continued to fire lasers at Yuuitsu but they never came close to her because of a certain bunch of creatures taking hits in her place. Fraulein was going about systematically eliminating the enemy Dark Matter. She truly is the hidden MVP in all of this.

I flapped my wings and moved towards Yuuitsu.

If I can get her while she is distracted...

"Five is mental out, useless. Four won't do any help and I already used the third. The second... I already have it haha! So that means..."

The flower on her back spun and the seven petals collapsed and merged, forming one large, massive petal that glowed a pure white.

This... May be a problem...

I managed to sneak a glance at Aleister who seemed to be shaking in fear of what was about to happen.

And if what she is going to do could make someone even like Aleister shake... Just how powerful is she?

Yuuitsu arched her back backwards as dark tornado-like wings emerged and shredded everything in a five meter radius into ribbons. Even her own army was not minded as they shattered like glass that was thrown into a blender.

I slammed my wings down on her head but they bounced off like

"It's time for the number one!"

~~~~~~~~~Yuriko~~~~~~~~~~

The vehicle lurched up into the air again.

Yet another pothole.

Just how much damage has Japan sustained? The distance between Osaka and Tokyo is not a short one. Millions lived in the towns and precincts along the coasts. Even the mountainous areas were filled with small homes, forests and agricultural districts.

Were there forests fires raging right this instant? Are there people at home hiding from Elements that crawled in the shadows while others put their lives on the line for their families?

What about my folks back home?

I do not have many friends. After all, the number of people I care for is exactly the same as the few numbers I have in my phone but those few people mean the world to me.

An incessant 'whooshing' sound accompanied by an irritating 'fwum fwum' from the helicopters overhead grew louder.

The unmanned helicopters will circle around the convoy and would come over my MTAFV or Mass Transport Armored Fighting Vehicle every few minutes, bringing along with them their noisy propulsion systems.

I glanced at the girls gossiping beside me. They seemed to have calmed down considerably. Now, not everyone was calm but thanks to those who were, a vast majority of the students have accepted our current situation and have decided to enjoy what they could instead of wallowing in sorrow.

A few animalistic shrieks popped up. My vehicle sped up as an overwhelming reply of gunfire silenced the enemy.

Surprisingly, only a few of the girls cringed. Almost everyone had gotten used to the noise. Of course, it applied only when the gun was not directly beside them while it was firing. If a pistol could deafen you, imagine if it were a machine gun.

Every half an hour, the convoy would come to a stop or speed up depending on the circumstances outside.

If there were enemies, the vehicles carrying civilians would speed up and apply covering fire for the more nimble fighters to move out and eliminate the attackers. If there were civilians, some of the convoy would stop while the others would slow down to give time for them to evacuate the survivors.

Now, the convoy numbered in at a few hundred vehicles. Of course, not all of these were the high tech vehicles that I was in and majority of them consisted of simple lorries or even buses that survived the orbital bombardment but as we passed through towns and villages, more and more soldiers grouped up with us and we slowly became a fast moving army.

"Yuri-chan."

I took a deep breath. The air was rather stale due to the vehicle's thick armor but then again, I'd rather breathe stuffy air than risk getting killed even before my brain registered I was in danger.

I wonder if Mom and Dad are okay... And Misaka and Mikoto... And Last Order... Last Order was supposed to be on a play date with Haimura wasn't she...

Haimura...

"Yuri-chan?"

Memories of his familiar face and smell emerged. From the time we met to the slow start we had... Hehe... Even the kisses we shared.

Engrossed in my memory, I smiled to myself and giggled, not realizing the implications of sitting in a truck full of high school students that were gossiping about me (not that I knew at they were gossiping about me though).

A hand tapped on my shoulder and I jumped out of my seat.

"!"

My eyes met with four pairs staring right back at me with varying degrees of concern, surprise, amusement and more.

Nozomi smiled sheepishly and picked up my cane that I had thrown away haphazardly in my surprise. "Sorry for startling you Yuriko-chan. But you looked really stressed out for a moment there before suddenly bursting out into giggles."

That last part was accompanied by rambunctious laughter from Natsuki and Yuuko. Even the quiet Mizore covered her mouth and giggled at my flustered expression.

"Hahahah... Ha... Yuriko. Hah. Err... Hahaha. Erm, sorry about that... But it was just too funny..." Natsuki's reply was barely understandable and lacked any sincerity.

Mizore composed herself and filled me in on what happened while I was zoning out. Much to Natsuki and Yuuko's joy since they themselves could barely speak due to being plagues with bouts of laughter.

I raised an eyebrow and gestured for Mizore to start explaining.

"Well, we were talking about some random stuff and we eventually got onto the topic of boyfriends so Nozomi asked us if any of us had one..." Mizore started blushing heavily and grew silent.

Nozomi helped her finish. "And thus, a certain girl," she pointed her thumb as a laughing Natsuki, "mentioned your name and everyone got excited. So we called you."

Oh. That made sense...

Wait.

"SINCE WHEN DID I HAVE A BOYFRIEND?!" My cheeks heated up as I remembered what I was thinking of earlier.

Natsuki started laughing harder, drawing tears from her eyes. My reaction must have been priceless.

"Natsuki!" Nozomi slapped the brown haired girl on the head.

She flailed her arms and fell into Yuuko's lap.

Mizore sweatdropped "Sorry about them Yuriko-san..."

I waved her off. "It's alright."

"Hey hey, Yuriko. If it's alright, can you tell us how did you meet this mysterious 'Haimura' that Natsuki has been talking about?" Yuuko asked her first question of this chapter and spoke for one of her first times in this story even though she is kind of a chatterbox.

I didn't really know how to reply her.

On one hand, I didn't really want to tell them since I am afraid that I would be putting too much worry into my voice and give off the impression that we are really together but on the other hand, when we get back to Tokyo, we are sure meet up with him and others.

Not to mention that if they did a little digging, they'd be able to find him in no time since we are all in the same school.

"Ah... Well, when I transferred to this school, my teacher put me beside him and we uh... Clicked."

Apparently, the four of them weren't the only ones listening in and a good fifteen or so others listening in face vaulted in disappointment. Just as Natsuki opened her mouth to complain about the horrible explanation, a low baritone voice called for me from the driving compartment.

One was poking his head out from behind the sliding metal door separating the fighting and transport compartment.

"Yuriko-sama. The commander of this convoy would like to speak to you."

I excused myself from my friends and made my way through the fighting compartment and into the driver's compartment. I refused to put a hand on the radio One passed to me and got him to hold and operate it in my stead as I spoke. The damn thing was filthy. Light reflected off the oily surface and a distinctly greasy smell came off the receiver.

"Maho-san?"

"Sorry for calling you out like this but I want you to join me on my tank."

"Oh join you? That's fine."

My mind clicked.

"Join you?!"

* * *

My shoes crunched in a few smooth pebbles. It's been a while since I last walked on this kind of rocky soil. The earth was uneven, every here and there was a crater with Element remains or bullet casings littered around. It all looked so surreal. As if it was just a scene for a war movie that could be manufactured out of nothing for nothing.

The fresh air that filled my lungs on the other hand, was welcome. Breathing in that stuffy canister of a transport was torturous. But it is nowhere near as torturous a situation compared to those who risked getting disemboweled by invisible creatures as they sought shelter or protection on foot.

In that sense, I am thankful for that stuffy canister on treads.

The overall commander of this convoy however, seemed to have a different view if things as she waved to me from her tank. It was hulking black beast that had half of its armor bent and twisted. The original boxy shape of it had given way to twisted steel and half the turret was melted off and replaced with canvas covers.

The hill armor also seemed gravely damaged. I remember seeing one of these tanks before. It's original shape was literally, a box with a long gun. This Tiger however had misshapen armor due to it melting and the hardening in the wrong places. What should be holes were covered up by large canvas sheets and painted black to give off the impression that the tank was doing fine at first glance.

But the main thing that set it apart from the other tanks, other than it not being the standard Type 10 the JSDF used was the gun. It was completely gone and looked like it would never shoot again. Just a glance to the mantlet would show that the barrel was melted and had bent sideways. I will never understand why they didn't abandon this tank.

My host continued to wave at me during my inner monologue and stopped when I started walking towards her. It must have been quite the effort for her to keep up those large motions despite her pulled muscles, sprains and broken bones.

I cringed when I remembered the extent of her injuries. Her tank was hit by a meteor wasn't it? No wonder her wounds were so bad.

I took a few steps forward. I was tempted to ask for Natsuki or Nozomi to help me with walking since walking with a crutch on such uneven ground was not only dangerous because of the possibility of falling, but also because of mini-landslides that could occur thanks to my crutch exerting an oddly high amount of pressure.

Maho noticed that I had trouble traversing the uneven ground and signalled for her tank to driver closer to me. As the machine grew close, she climbed out of the semi-destroyed turret and hopped down with a wince. Her injuries must still be hurting.

"Sorry again about this Yuriko." She had to shout a little due to the other vehicles roaring past us. I didn't mention that the only two vehicles in the convoy that were not moving were ours?

"It's fine. Why did you call me out though?"

Nothing wrong with going straight to the point right?

Maho sighed and pointed into the distance. "I'm sure you noticed that Academy City is in between us and Tokyo."

I nodded, getting on what she was going to talk about.

"I am about to take with me a small group of soldiers to scout out the area while the rest continue on to Tokyo. Since the meteors have stopped coming down, we have regained air superiority and can rain hell down on any unsuspecting enemy."

My eyes narrowed. I understood why she was doing that. If the enemy was human, a powerful air strike could eliminate them. And thanks to the ever increasing number of soldiers regrouping, the stakes were high that they could eliminate any Element that they should encounter even without their commander. But what concerned me was why she was telling me all this. To her, I am nothing but an ordinary civilian who had organized a group of school children and got them to safety. Why am I being told of military affairs?

But then again, the enemy is probably far more powerful than anything the JSDF can send out. That massive shockwave from earlier seemed oddly similar to something a certain dog had fired. If someone had control of something like that monster of a machine... No normal person will be able to harm him.

The brown haired woman noticed my suspicious expression and cut right to the chase. "I know of your... Ability and the fact that you have a very powerful helper right beside you in that MTAFV that has been discreetly helping us protect the convoy. I am here to ask for your assistance to help us with our mission to eliminate the leader of all this who is most likely in Academy City's Endymion."

With each sentence she spoke, I took an involuntary step back.

How did she know of my power, of One, of the enemy in the Endymion? Heck, does she know who our enemy is?

"The satellites are back online I presume." One's low voice spoke out of nowhere.

I looked to him bewilderedly. When did he join us?

Maho nodded. "That is why command noticed some really weird things going on in Academy City." She cleared her throat. "The main thing however, is that every meteor has somehow had their trajectory redirected to direct them to the area around the base of the space elevator."

My eyes moved back and forth between the two of them. Where Maho seemed confident in her ability to get us to help her, One seemed hesitant to even consider the option of helping. And if he was having second thoughts... What kind of monster was his master?

"Anyway," Maho continued, either ignoring One's hesitation or not noticing it. "If you two could help me it would be great. Of course, I am not forcing you to as you are still classed as civilians and having you with the convoy would be a great insurance policy that the civilians will be safe."

And with that, she returned to her tank and climbed in. She was so calm in these situations that I was left feeling intimidated by her presence alone.

"Wait!" I call out to her. "How do you know about me?"

She stopped mid-step. For the first time, she seemed to be afraid or unwilling to answer.

A few large vehicles passed behind her, kicking up dust into the air and making her hair cover her face so I couldn't analyze her facial expression. When I could see her face again, the commander placed her hand on her chest with an apologetic look.

Her next words would be the ones that finalized my decision to go to Academy City.

"I was there that day."

~~~~~~~~~~Two/Akemi~~~~~~~~~~

It's been... two hours...

I adjusted my butt on my perch up above the ship in the crow's nest. It had a good view I admit... But it is rather lacking in comfort. Not only is it hot, thanks to the stupid armor around the nest that is supposed to save the sailor from bullets, but also because of the annoyingly hard metal seat.

Who the hell designs these things? They should be hanged. Or forced to sit in one of these 'nests' for a week. The outside air was cool but nest was designed to minimize injury to the crewman inside thus confining him in the hot and humid metal coffin.

"Wait a minute..." I thought aloud, a good idea hitting me.

Sliding out of the view port, I wrapped my fingers around a little protrusion that should have been a sunshade and pulled myself out and over the nest.

Setting myself comfortably on top of the nest, I opened my arms and closed my eyes, forgetting my current duties for a moment to enjoy the salty breeze and cool night air. Stark contrast to the oven-like conditions inside the damn canister of a lookout post.

I sat there for a good half an hour or so, doing nothing but looking out into the distance, watching out for any sign of unfriendly Elements and the sort.

Fires raged far off in the horizon while military jets started to stream inland as the air force realized that the bombardment had stopped and was willing to let their planes take to the air once again. Massive brick-shaped shadows over the distant waters were responsible for the deployment of those noisy aircraft.

A few small explosions went off over Academy City as small swarms of air-type Elements rose to meet their aerial foes. Compared to the initial assault, their numbers have dwindled significantly. I could barely sense a hundred of them. Most of them were the top-class hundred meter long monsters that could take one of my siblings on for a fight and win.

I wonder if the people there are fine... Many would have lost their lives. All the more reason to fight right?

Wrong.

My hand moved on its own and slapped my cheek. Hard. How could I justify my actions like that? All the more reason to fight just because people died? I could have saved dozens but I ignored them and went on to search for the strongest person in the city. And why did I look for him?

To get his help to save me, myself and I.

*Sigh*

But... I don't want to go back to those labs...

I looked at my open palm. Allowing all the healing I had done to it to fade away, revealing nothing less than a gory mess. Blood dripped from tiny holes in my overly swollen hand. In some parts, the flesh and skin had peeled away to reveal faintly glowing crystals in place of bones. The fingers were twisted unnaturally and pus collected on blisters that enveloped the pinkie.

It was as if it had been smashed for hours on end by a block of stone. Then barbecued. All while it was attached to a living person.

Memories flashed before my eyes.

White washed walls painted with a thick coat of blood. An array of surgical equipment, weapons, mechanical arms and a woman wearing a faded lab coat holding out her hand that had tentacles extending from her fingertips.

Day after day of torture.

My mind was set to feel no pain on the first day because she didn't want us to die of shock from having out skeleton surgically removed and simultaneously replaced with a reinforced crystal structure. But on the second day, she revealed to us our new bodies.

We, me and my three siblings no longer had any skin and blood was visibly flowing out of exposed capillaries and most importantly, our chests no longer had any bone. Instead, the ribcage was visible and our organs within were moving without hassle. However, the most odd of all these changes to our bodies were the addition of a large black crystal and covered our hearts. Each of us had one but of different color.

The following moments after the reveal were surreal. I wanted to scream at the fear of seeing my own body like this but could barely make a sound. My heart felt like it was in my throat and my stomach churned with the urge to throw up but seeing my organs behave normally without any odd movement proved those expressions to be false.

The girl to my left was the first and only one to scream. Her ear-piercing screams went on for hours. While the rest of us were far too shocked with the current states of our bodies to even speak or think.

In the past, as a student of Academy City, our personal appearance was limited to our body shape, facial looks and hair. But now, we were devoid of any and all of those.

We had lost everything in the few hours we spent unconscious. In the few short hours a single woman took to do all this to us.

And that was just the second day.

On the third day, our skin and flesh were replaced and the woman, who had introduced herself rather pompously as Kihara Yuuitsu, reactivated the pain receptors in our brains, allowing us the privilege of feeling for ourselves the shockwaves of pain going through our body thanks to the new implants and the various experiments she carried out on us.

The experiments ranged from injections to getting shot to having a flamethrower turned on us and even having us literally drink aqueous mustard gas. She was trying to figure out how resilient our bodies were and went to great lengths to test them.

A tear ran down my cheek as I thought back to those dark times. It all happened not too long ago but the short time since then felt like an eternity.

Our bodies had adapted unbelievably quickly in response to such harsh treatment. We maintained our normal human appearance but had our senses heightened, our bodies twenty times stronger and faster compared to any normal person. We learnt to use our abilities and could use our cores to create weapons and armor. Maybe we could have made other random things like jewelry with our cores but our circumstances demanded we develop combat abilities first.

And that was what we did.

All four of us learnt how to use our abilities in record time and before we knew it, we carried our first escape attempt.

It failed. Four had done his part to destroy the laboratory while Three and One were to combat Yuuitsu directly. I was supposed to support them.

Yuuitsu showed no mercy to her creations. She used a monstrous cyborg attachment called Rensa and channeled the power of the original gemstones- people who could perform supernatural phenomena which we were based off.

After getting our asses handed to us on a silver platter, she allowed us to recover from our injuries… Albeit in a cell, chained up from head to toe while having five automated guns that were programmed to fire a shot the moment I moved a little more than a centimeter. And just for your info, the bullets it fired were large enough to send your body flying from a single it.

So if you got shot once, prepare to get shot until they ran out of ammunition.

Bad times.

When we realized that we could actually control our powers while chained and use them to nullify the bullets attacking us, the four of us tried to fight back and escape for the second time.

But we were instantly shut down by the Kihara sprouting a massive array of weapons beating us down till we begged forgiveness.

Apparently our bodies could still feel pain. A lot of it. Especially if she was using weaponry powerful to kill Gods or so she said.

Our only saving grace was that we were essential to her experiments. She originally intended to make an army of us but figured that it would be far too expensive. That's why she couldn't allow herself to kill us. The other children she tested on had apparently died from shock and we were the only batch left that she could use.

I shudder to imagine how many others had died to make our results possible.

However, the most major problem to her was not the costs required to make us. The problem lay in us being able to continue processing rational thought. Apart from us losing our minds, personalities and memories thanks to the pain she inflicted on us, we could still think like a normal human being.

What she wanted were not soldiers that could think and were capable of going against her orders. What she wanted was a mindless army of slaves to throw at her enemy. And she seems to have succeeded at that.

A squadron of F-16s shot through the air overhead, interrupting my thoughts.

"Still thinking about back then huh."

Three was kneeling right behind me. Her arms slowly snaking down over my shoulders and caressing my smaller form with hers.

Of the four of us, Three was the one to be picked on the most by Yuuitsu due to her rebelliousness. You may remember her as the only one to scream when she saw her body, but she was also the one who almost killed Yuuitsu in one of our escape attempts.

And she was also the one who came up with the plan to escape our mad scientist of a creator and master.

Why we called her master, I will never know. Why the name stuck, I also have no idea.

"How did you know I was thinking of that?"

"You were crying."

I froze up. I was crying?

Three used a hand to wipe off the tears on my face.

"Yeah. I really am happy that we managed to get out." I say.

Three headbutted me gently. "You weren't answering the question."

I ignored her and focused my mind on the sound of waves splashing on the ship.

Another squadron plane flew over us. A cargo plane with a pair of F-35b escorts. I wonder what it might be carrying... Paratroopers? Ammunition? I doubt anyone would be stupid enough to airdrop something like a tank.

My hair was tousled roughly and I was pushed off the edge of the nest. "The boy's shift is done. Yours is too."

I immediately knew what happened and sighed. That Three is such a tsundere. Silently thanking her in my heart, I shifted my center of gravity and landed on the deck with minimal noise.

Now to find Haimura.

* * *

The door to his room squeaked open. It was a standard bunk bed that was devoid of personalization. Well, we were just guests so it works be weird if the room had personal objects lying around.

Haimura sat in the middle of the haze grey room. His back was turned to me as he tried on one of the blue uniforms that one of the girls had passed to him.

Luckily for him, it was gender-neutral and didn't make him look like a cross dresser. The very thought of his boyish face over a magical girl outfit was more than enough to leave me gasping for air like a dying fish.

"Akemi?"

"Mm... Pfft... Mm... Yeah its... Pfft... Me... HAHAHAHA!"

His eyes turned to me containing a mix of amusement and annoyance. "You just imagined me wearing a girl's sailor uniform right?"

A girl's sailor uniform? That was far less insulting compared to what I imagined.

"Mm. Yeah."

No way was I going to let him know my true thoughts.

He sighed and flopped on the lower bunk. Bouncing a little thanks to the stiff springs. A quick analysis told me that he was rather stressed.

"Scared about going in huh." I moved to him and sat down beside his prone form.

He merely nodded with his eyes closed.

"Well, I have far more to be afraid of than you but I'm still going along with it." I say in a bid to console him. It would do no one any good if he was out of it during our infiltration into Academy City. Nothing would go according to plan. Yuuitsu could be toying with conventional armies or be fighting my siblings. Each alternative brought its own advantages and drawbacks.

Haimura sat up and slouched sighing yet again. The boy is sighing wayyyyy to much for his age.

"It's not that I'm afraid of going in." He mumbled. "I'm just worried for my friends back in Tokyo. And one of my closest ones was supposed to be on a flight back home too..."

My eyes widened and my breath was caught in my throat.

"Any I guess I am a little worried for you too." He laughed a little and smiled sheepishly. "Well, I'm in no place to call you weak but after seeing you get injured like that... I well... Don't want to see you get injured like that again."

What he said went completely against what I was doing.

This was a boy who was not scared of dying while on a mission for someone he has no connection with but was instead worrying about people back home. Where I was afraid of going back to being Yuuitsu's pet and was willing to use him to my advantage, he was actually worrying about my safety.

This was an extremely stupid boy.

He smiled at me and patted my head. "Don't look at me like that. It's just me to help others out I guess... Just like a certain spikey haired boy back home. I'm not forcing myself to look good for a cute girl."

He probably thought of that line as a joke but to me, it meant many different things. It showed that he was earnest in his actions. Unlike me. It showed that he was trustworthy. Even more unlike me.

I shook my head to get rid of that train of thought. Even my cheeks are burning up.

Deep breaths Two. Deep breaths.

A warm hand put itself on my forehead.

"Akemi? Are you okay?"

My face got hotter.

This is a really, really, really... Lovable boy.

I swatted his hand away and hugged him tightly. He didn't know my full story but was willing to help me. He didn't know me for more than a day and he was concerned for my well-being.

The two of us fell onto the bed. He lay on his back while I pressed my body onto his. One of my legs was in between his and the other hung loosely off the edge of the bed.

"I'm fine." I spoke into his shoulder. "Thank you... For your kindness."

"Hmm? I didn't quite catch that." Haimura frowned a little in confusion.

I grinned in return. I'll explain everything when all this is over. Just from looking at his face, confidence washed through my body in waves.

"You don't need to know what I said just yet." I teased him and put my nose on his.

Apparently it set off a chain reaction that he was containing really well as his cheeks exploded into a bright red and I felt something hard on my thigh.

His face was quickly turned away from mine to hide his embarrassment. Well, he is a young man with a beautiful girl lying suggestively on him so I can't blame him.

I brought my face even closer to his blushing face.

A gentle knocking came from the door taking us by surprise and breaking the atmosphere.

It opened quickly and efficiently revealing a pair of girls. Both of them wore the same uniform as him but were differentiated by vast difference in height and hair length.

The long haired one started laughing openly upon seeing us and ran off to spread the news while the shorter one with flowers sitting atop her short bowl-cut hair turned beet red and stared slack jawed at us.

"OIII! DON'T GO SPREADING RUMORS!"

* * *

Cold salty water splashed on my cheek.

"Two... why'd you go and say all that?! Now we have to paddle all the way to the City!"

I laughed nonchalantly.

"It's just a short four kilometres. I can get us there in no time."

The boy glared at me and splashed seawater at me. He was thoroughly pissed. Not that he had any reason not to be.

-Five Minutes ago-

Two almost identical looking girls stared down at Haimura and I despite being shorter than both of us.

Their faces were taught with anger and the younger looking one with a flower hairpin holding up her brown hair raised a heavy looking spanner.

"Were. You. Cheating. On. Yuri-nee?" She said through clenched teeth.

Haimura inched backwards and raised his hands. "It's all a misunderstanding..." He started to explain.

But I guess I could tease them a little.

"Well, I have no knowledge of this 'Yuri-nee' the two of you speak of but Haimura here was my first time."

I wasn't lying about the first part but I sure was for the second. So you could say that what I said was a half lie. Heh.

"Mikoto! Don't raise the weapon like that! She's lying! And can't we resolve this more peacefully?" Haimura pleaded on deaf ears.

The one who was not named held her sister back with two fingers.

The hat on her head designed her as captain so her every action was considered authority on this ship.

This could be bad.

She's probably going to start lecturing us or something.

But what she did went against my expectations.

She said just one sentence that would send us on a long, tiring journey that was far worse than being attacked with a spanner.

"Kick them off the ship."

And that was how the two of us ended up on a life boat with one pedal to get us all the way from the Railgun to Academy City.

-/-

"AKEMI! HELP ME A LITTLE!" Haimura seemed to be struggling with waves caused by the passing destroyer.

I laughed and waved goodbye to Three who was shaking her head from atop the destroyer's watch tower. No mercy from her as well.

Well, to be honest, I deserved it. And since Haimura got aroused, it's his fault too.

"Akemiiiiiiiii!"

The poor boy was struggling. Not his fault though. This boat was big enough for at least ten people. Just managing to steer it to land with one pedal amongst massive waves was good enough for just a kid.

"Fine."

I had enough with his complaining. Didn't he forget that my element was water?

 _My alignment is with the back._

 _Element, water._

The core on my chest glowed.

I clapped my hands together and the water around us swirled and quickly formed a dragon's head.

Haimura stopped paddling and looked around in amazement.

 _Take us to shore._

The dragon closed its jaws around us and sped off towards the city, leaving the slow destroyer in the dust... Or should I say mist... Meh. Both of them work.

Here we come Yuuitsu.

Acqua and the sixth are here.

~~~~~~~~~Yuriko~~~~~~~~~~

Three men in black armor ran ahead of me into the inky darkness. Their steps made no noise even though the ground was littered with rocks, grass and other noisy stuff that I can barely see in the dark.

Just watching their silhouettes disappear into the dark soundlessly like shadows was kind of awe inspiring.

"They're good eh?" Maho commented.

In addition to her usual black tanker's uniform, she had switched out her helmet for a grey beret. To me, it was a stupid decision but there was probably a good reason why she did so. She was flanked by the three other members of her crew who retained their helmets.

"Yeah. They're quiet." I reply.

A soft laugh startled the skin off my bones. "Thanks for the compliment. They boys'll be happy to hear that."

I turned to see an armored figure all in black. The only difference I could discern from his appearance compared to the others was a small white kanji; 神, painted on his right chest armor. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the word, it is means kami or god.

Upon seeing Maho's glare, he straightened his back and introduced himself by rank and branch. No name though.

"First lieutenant. JSDF Kazoku team."

Maho nodded in appreciation and gestured for us to move forward. Silently, all five of them disappeared from view.

This left me alone with One.

"Hey, One." I called to the other man in black armor. "Let's go."

However, unlike the other black figures that had silently melted into the shadows, guns raised, this one stood stock still and stared into the distant Endymion.

"One?"

I took a step towards him and notices that air was distinctly hotter.

'The heck is wrong with him... He's been like this ever since I said that we were going in.' I thought to myself.

Currently, we are outside what were once the great walls of Academy City. The massive circular shield that surrounded the city had been torn down after it's failed Sample Shaggoth experiment to make it easier for external 'guests' to make their way in.

A good example of 'guests' would be the soldiers going in right now.

One's core glowed brightly for a second before he shuddered and turned to me. The air immediately cooled as he did so.

"My apologies... I was... Thinking about something." He mumbled.

I pointed a slender figure at him. "You'd better get your head back in the game. It was your idea to come back here in the first place. If it were for me to decide, I would have gone back to Tokyo with the rest to look for my family."

One slumped his shoulders.

Expecting nothing more from him, I started towards the city. Thankfully, I had been issued one of those nifty night vision goggles the army guys used. Yeah, they made everything look greenish but they were really well made. Sudden flashes of light would make the lenses switch to thermal sensors so you wouldn't get blinded.

I hope the girls are okay. I don't wanna go back to Tokyo to find them dead...

"No hostiles."

"Move up."

A large hand pushed me forward and I felt my chest pressing into a humanoid shadow.

"Grab hold," the shadow whispered, "we are moving quickly now. Commander Maho ordered me to carry you."

Giving a soft murmur in reply, strong arms wrapped around my butt and the hard shape of a gun pressed into my back.

"Moving."

A few soft clicks signaled that the other soldiers were looking out for our safety.

The soldier carrying me stopped abreast to a wall and signaled to the others to come over.

This leapfrogging technique continued on for the next twenty minutes. Two soldiers, including the soldier carrying me would move up and take look out for enemies before signaling for the rest to group up with us.

Before long, we had made our way through one of the outer districts and sounds of battle were clearly audible. Sometimes, the noises would echo along the empty buildings, making it seem like the fighting was going on everywhere at once.

We came along a destroyed apartment building. It looked as if a massive wrecking ball had come through and tore the building to shreds. I can only hope no one was in the building when it collapsed.

Shadows moved swiftly around the complex landscape of debris and eventually flashed a little light to tell us that there were no enemies.

The soldier carrying me set me on my feet gently before patting my shoulders and running off into the dark.

"Where is he going?"

Maho kept her eyes trained over the ledge. She was obviously on edge. I was too. The fact that there were no enemies in the enemy's base is far more unnerving than an outpost filled to the brim with cannon fodder.

Did the enemy send all of its units to attack civilian outposts while leaving none behind for defense?

"The team is going to move up and set down coordinates for a supply drop. We can't be sending in a plane only to have it shot down because we didn't clear the area can we?" She replied without even glancing in my direction. "You can take a seat though. Just be sure to help when we need it though."

"Mm."

I fumbled my way through the dark, using my crutch as a guide stick. Even with the wonder goggles, it was hard to discern between a small dislodged pebble or a block of concrete that could break your ankle. I continued to feel my way around and found a nice looking ledge and lowered my butt down on it.

One was chatting with Maho about some battle tactics while the other members of Maho's crew were taking a nap. Soldiers from the JSDF Kazoku team moved about in routine, well-practiced movements but were generally relaxed even as explosions echoed through the abandoned streets.

Somehow and someway, everyone had gotten over the absurdity of the last of enemies and local civilians. It was weird. But it felt better than having transparent bloodthirsty demons in the form of insects chasing you.

Much, much better.

"Mmm..." I looked up at the black sky that had a gigantic blue pillar cutting through a thick black cloud. Rainclouds? It may rain I guess.

Now that everything was generally calm, I actually had time to enjoy messing around with my own thoughts.

'I can't believe you just said that so optimistically... You are going to end up wallowing in depression.' I said to myself.

But even so, my mind wandered as that tiny voice in my head warned me not to. Thinking too much while in a dangerous area was dangerous in itself.

-/-

A white boy with a futuristic crutch that had four mechanical legs attached to the bottom stared down at five or so men in SWAT armor. He wore a maniacal grin and a white long sleeved tee with grey stripes.

As the men made their way towards him, hetapped a little button on a choker that turned a little LED light from green to red.

To be honest, there was no actual difference between before he pressed the button and after. He looked exactly the same apart from being able to stand without help from his crutch.

The men glanced at each other and laughed. Pointing their weapons at his face, they made their way towards the boy who maintained his smile while a little girl with short brown hair cowered behind him. They weren't taking him seriously.

Big mistake.

One of them rushed forward to push the boy out of the way and grab the girl who seemed to be their objective. But the moment his palm came within a centimeter of the boy's shoulder, the man was sent flying backwards into a concrete wall.

The girl hung her head in disappointment as the dead man's comrades gaped at their partner who was now no more than a red blotch embedded in an apartment building.

"Accelerator, please don't be too messy Misaka says in warning as she would not be happy if you made the ground all dirty for the cleaning robots to clean up."

The girl tried to talk sense to the boy but he gave no sign of acknowledgement.

"Ehehehehehe...HEHEHEHEHE!"

The white boy screeched in joyous laugher that was comparable to a demonic eagle while stuffing his hands into the maws the two men standing closest to him before slamming their heads together, turning their heads into something resembling mashed potatoes mixed with copious amounts of tomato ketchup. As he did so, winds moving at a few hundred kilometers per hour sent the others flying while the two unlucky ones became literal puddles of blood.

White wings grew from his bac~

-/-

My eyes jolted open from sudden movement.

I immediately became aware of a dirty feeling in my mouth and a slimy film of sweat covering my arms and back. My forehead was also drenched in sweat.

Maho shook my shoulder. "Hey. You alright? You were shivering."

Huh? Was I asleep? Was all that a dream?

I yawned.

Yeah. I was asleep.

My eyes blinked rapidly to get rid of the stinging sensation in my eyes.

"Yuriko. Are you okay?" A concerned Maho helped me up into a sitting position.

I nodded numbly as those images replayed themselves again and again in my mind. They were not my memories I'm sure but they seemed so real. "I'm fine."

Maho noticed that I was hiding something but decided not to pry. She merely patted my head. I silently thanked her for that. I wasn't willing to tell just anyone about my dream. It is Haimura's job to listen to me whine.

Jet planes shrieked overhead and rained bombs over an area over the base of the Endymion. Was the fighting concentrated over there?

Plumes of fire blossomed from where the planes had released their payload but the noises of battle did not even recede. They sounded even louder now.

"They're using thermobaric..." The leader of the JSDF squad mumbled.

The planes flew off but were chased by pillars of fire that almost seemed solid. Luckily for them, they had the advantage of surprise and managed to get away unscathed. Albeit barely.

Before long, another flight of planes appeared over the dark horizon. They consisted of two jet planes and a… cargo plane?

Maho's crew cheered as the soldiers hurriedly fired signal flares up into the air. Apparently stealth had become the least of our worries while I was busy sleeping. However, now that no one was talking to me, my mind had the time to wander.

Another image of the blood splattered wall from my dream made me retch. The distinct burning sensation of stomach acid hurt my throat and called up a few tears.

Was it even a dream? Or was it a memory...

Either way, it's disturbing. And, as if to add insult to injury, the little girl in that dream/memory looked a lot like Last Order.

Chills ran down my spine. I rubbed my hands over my arms and felt countless goosebumps appearing left and right. The distance where the fires raged suddenly felt a lot more like home to me than anywhere else.

Just standing in this city made me feel at home even.

How the hell did this happen?

The cargo plane shined a bright spotlight over us and dropped a pair of large objects as it completed its run.

"Enjoy the toys!" A voice shouted from loudspeakers mounted on the plane. "Express delivery from Smartvery of the Coven Compass!"

"What is the 'Coven Compass'" I ask in a bid to distract myself from the troublesome state my mind is in. Where is that Haimura when I need him...

A member of Maho's crew who I remembered as Hikari answered me while shouting in joy as the two giant crates held in the air by parachutes fell slowly towards us. (By slowly I mean rather quickly)

"It's a British aircraft carrier owned by the EPA that was here during the attack it seems. They are supplying is with things that the JSDF can't." She explained.

The first of the two crates hit the ground and after a quick display of human skill in opening large boxes, revealed a large supply of weapons and ammunition. Some looked far too large to be used on a gun for human use.

But that issue was quickly resolved when the second crate revealed itself to be a tank. Almost identical to Maho's black Tiger 1 apart from a fresh coat of paint and being in tip-top shape.

The solemn mood that hung in the air when we came into the city was replaced with an excited energy. Everyone, from private to commander was estatic with the new toys.

Even I was distracted by their quiet celebrations and was caught up by their energy. A smile crept its way across my cheeks.

'All that gore was just a dream' I told myself. No reason to dwell on it right?

But the boy's face who uncannily resembled mine had etched itself into my brain. There was no way I could forget the angry and crazed joy in his eyes as he massacred those men.

But his eyes also contained a hint of desperation and sadness. As if all he ever wanted was to live without having to deal with fighting and killing. To live peacefully with the little girl cowering behind him. To have a family.

That is why I couldn't bring myself to fear or hate the boy. If I were reading a story about him, I would have no qualms seeing him as the hero. A brutal one but a hero no less.

After a few more minutes of surveying and setting up the weapons, Maho gave the command for us to move towards the source of the fighting; the base of the Endymion Space Elevator.

I dismissed those thoughts. Now isn't the time for imagining about people from dreams. Now is the time to be focused on bringing the chaos to an end.

Hopefully, we can bring an end to all this chaos and madness… Even if we have to kill someone. But truthfully, I kinda looked forward to killing her.

Maybe that's why I can empathize with that boy from my dreams so well.

~~~~~~~~~~Iwao~~~~~~~~~~

"So this is it?"

"Mm." The mechanical voice betrayed no emotion. "The fighting is going on at the core of the city. At the Endymion."

I took off my helmet to get a feel of the area. Even if we were still outside the city, getting a breath of air that hadn't gone through the helmet's filter felt wonderful.

The wind is moving from Northwest to Southeast... It will not affect projectile velocity so sniping is an option. That is, if the woman is still human. According to the big black robot standing beside me, my target had lost all semblance of humanity to become a living weapon.

Impossible to kill apparently.

If I were a normal guy I'd have given up the moment I heard those words. But I am not your average soldier. I am a soldier with absolutely nothing to lose. And if I can have a go at the people responsible for killing the reason I stayed alive for, why the hell shouldn't I go for it.

But not all hope was lost. I still have a chance to kill the damn woman. The term 'living weapon' has the word 'living' in it doesn't it? And if it is alive, it can most definitely die.

I wrapped my hand around the little piece of paper in my helmet. The distant lights coming from the space elevator and the random fires are far from enough to allow me to view the picture so feeling it is all I can do. My fingers crossed over countless tiny creases and little sratches on the polarised surface. Each of them painted a little picture in my mind, helping me remember how she looked. The memories we shared.

Reina...

My chest tightened.

In response, I stuffed the photo back into my helmet and slammed it onto my head.

"Let's go kill your master, Four." I restarted the Hornet motorcycle.

It quickly and almost completely silently raised itself slightly over the road's surface. Being a hovercraft meant that it was silent and would not leave even the slightest imprint on the ground. The only signs that it was even there were a slight hum from the engine and the lights on the speedometer, fuel gauge, and ammunition counter. Even then, the lights were hidden from outside view by curvy sloped armor. A wonderful stealth vehicle.

Four spoke up in protest to my decision. "I recommend waiting for my siblings..."

"No. We're going."

"One of them has an ETA of five minutes and the other is already in the city."

I knew I was being selfish and may be jeopardizing his mission or plan. But I did things the way I wanted to. The only people to ever understand were Reina and my 'adoptive' family.

Speaking of family... I wonder if Maho is okay... I was originally supposed to meet up with her too...

"Four." I gave him a signal to make him stop explaining the pros and cons of waiting for his siblings. "I understand your concern. But this is how I do things. I will help you kill her, but not on your terms. If you want to meet up with them, go ahead. I will be nearby at all times."

"But..."

"No."

The massive robot of a man considered my words before nodding and heading off.

"Just don't throw your life away in the name of vengeance." He spoke. Somehow, the mechanical tone sounded pitying. "You can't kill her alone."

Before I could ask him to explain himself, he had already tunneled underground and sped off.

And when he tunneled, he was fast. That's how he kept up with my Hornet going at an average of a hundred and seventy kilometers per hour over all kinds of terrain. I had spent no small deal on my way here, using the bike's levitation to my advantage and even skimming over rivers and speeding over or through collapsed buildings. Four had kept up with me all the way.

I sighed loudly before speeding off. Even though I barely spoke to the guy, seeing him leave like that really grated on my nerves. Once again, I wondered how Reina put up with me.

He was right though.

The way I am about to do things will leave me dead more likely than not.

But I'd rather die trying than hide behind someone else and let them die for me. I have nothing much to lose anyway.

I pushed away those thoughts. Now to find a good hidey hole to shoot from.

* * *

"GROUP headquarters. The center of excellence for catering to your delivery needs." I laughed a little. The motto sounded too cliché and innocent until you realized that they really could bring you anything you wanted.

Be it legal or illegal.

I was in the lobby of GROUP headquarters. Not far from here was SCHOOL and ITEM's but they lacked a good view to survey the city from.

Not only were the buildings shorter but they were also partially destroyed. Massive swathes of ITEM's headquarter office had been slapped off like blocks of jenga while school was pretty much a tall pile of rubble.

My footsteps echoed on the marble floor. It reminded me slightly of my first face-to-face encounter with an Element where I had to fight in close quarters combat. That mantis had almost sliced me in two.

I stopped in front of a panel of three elevators. It seemed that the highest floor was a hundred and fifteen. It will be a pain to climb up the stairs.

"Hope the elevator is running." I mused and tapped the button for the fun of it. Better to try and succeed than not try and suffer climbing up hundreds upon hundreds of stairs.

To my surprise, the elevator started moving the moment I pressed the button. Within seconds, it came down from the sixteenth floor to the first. I pointed my scavenged shotgun at it as a safety precaution. The building may seem empty but the Elements were essentially invisible.

*Ding*

The high pitched bell echoed throughout the lobby. My heart pounded frantically in my chest. Adrenaline prepared me to jump back at moment's notice as my trigger finger twitched.

Smooth metal doors opened soundlessly. The floor, furnished with a thick carpet showed no signs of being pressed down on by invisible legs. Red light filtered down from overhead let me know that the elevator was running on reserve power.

It was pretty much enemy free. And really welcoming. All I wanted to do was to let the machine do all the climbing for me.

But there is a catch.

If the building decided to give me the finger and cut off power to the elevator, I'd be stranded inside the lift. And in the worst case scenario, I'd plummet to my death in a nice, spacious metal coffin.

An alternative to this would be to take the stairs. It roughly equates to at least ten thousand steps or four hundred flights of stairs at the very least.

I considered my options and weighed the odds. Take my chances and enjoy a fast, tireless trip to the top while risking plummeting to my death...

Or a long, grueling climb up thousands of my greatest and most dreaded enemy that would probably train my leg muscles and help me lose the calories from the dinner Maho cooked for me the other night

Fuck that. I'd take my chances with the lift. I don't wanna sweat THAT much. It would ruin my aim.

I stepped into the elevator.

A click.

The lights switched off and the gentle hum of ventilation grew silent. The door remained open even as I slammed my finger on the buttons.

It was dead.

Fuck me.

* * *

One more flight.

One more fucking flight...

ONE MORE STEP.

Door... Locked?

I pointed my shotgun at the handle and fired three shots.

The metal door swug open, giving me access to sweet, sweet fresh air. A cool breeze sent shivers down my sweaty spine.

My ordeal... Was over...

One fucking hundred and fifteen bloody stories of god forsaken torture. It felt worse than military training god damn it.

WHY DID THAT DAMN ELEVATOR HAVE TO BREAK DOWN?!

"Uuuuuuuuuuuuuu..."

My whining went on for a few minutes. I shan't bore you with the details.

Eventually, I caught my breath and surveyed the area. Something I should have done but failed to in a gross display incompetence.

My mind worked to give me a rough overview; no living hostiles nor friendlies. Three dead soldiers. JSDF uniform. A shit-ton of bullet casings and crystalline fragments too. There was so much that they actually created a layer over the artificial grass that lined the roof like a carpet.

The three of them put up a good fight.

I went about and closed their eyes while giving a short prayer. I may be cold but I still respect those who died doing their jobs.

At the same time, I analyzed their wounds and roughly discerned the probable causes of death.

Sergeant Kotomine had died of blood loss/shock from a massive gash in his chest. Probably a yellow mantis. Same thing for private Kiritsugu.

But private Emiya had died from either a head injury caused by impact on a wall or some impressive burns. His arms and neck were pretty badly burned. However, his uniform was soaked. His corpse leaned uncomfortably with his back pinned against a concrete wall. The blood splatter from his head impacting it also told me the point of impact. He was probably set alight by a red Element and then sent flying from a jet of water fired by a blue. Poor kid.

Other than the information on the types of enemies that were possibly lurking in the shadows, they also provided me with a pair of rifles that were suitable for sniping. The third one had its barrel bent. I don't really need to explain why I couldn't use it.

I took a position overlooking district seven of Academy City where the Endymion towered over the world. It's powerful blue column of a body gave off an impressive glow that lit up a large area around it with a sickly aqua light.

Using my new rifle's scope, I used my bird's eye view to my advantage. In the distance, is watched as small clouds of dust and explosions constantly went off. Every few seconds, white swords would go flying into the air. Nearer to me, a team of soldiers and a black tank made their way through the rubble to the space elevator.

Among them, was Four.

His massive silhouette screamed at me like a giant 'I'M HERE!' sign. Beside him was another big sized man in black medieval armor. That was probably one of Four's siblings that he was so eager to meet.

I sighed. On one hand, I was... Regretting my decision to leave him but on the other, my pride would have me be the one to snatch the life of the woman who killed Reina. It was my pride that's hindering me. Not my ability. Not Four. It was me.

At least he'd have people with him that are more suited for holding down the enemy. And while she is distracted, I can do my work.

I set myself down in a sniping position. Temporarily forgetting that I was alone in a hostile area.

…

…

A click.

It was both real and imaginary.

The first click was a real one. It was a bit like the sound of a hard object tapping on a rocky surface. The second was a click in my mind.

Why did my mind click?

Well, the three men here were holding sniper's rifles. The three men were attacked. The city was void of hostiles.

Why were they attacked?

Because they were on sniper duty.

Three more clicks.

Something was definitely behind me.

Iwao. You bloody, fucking idiot. You just got yourself killed.

 _Killed._

A cold, hard metal blade pressed down on my shoulder. It pressed down slightly but it was enough to spill some blood.

"Don't move."

My heart leapt to my throat. Somehow, I managed to keep myself from shitting myself then and there.

From my prone situation which was designed in a way to minimize my silhouette to the target, my entire body was vulnerable to everything and anything coming from behind.

'Iwao. You really fucked up big time. Just because the enemies don't show themselves doesn't mean they aren't there.'

I closed my eyes and sighed. This was it I guess. Dying due to incompetence. Reina will never let me hear the end of it I'm sure.

At least I'd be with her sooner than expected.

I was prepared to die anyway.

"What is your name?" The person holding the weapon to my neck asked.

"..."

The blade pressed down harder. My armor offered practically no resistance and parted like butter. God forbid I survive this. Kazoku command is going to redesign their damn armor.

My shoulder twitched involuntarily. The cut still wasn't that deep and the pain was far from the worst I had endured but my body refused to obey my command to stay still and started shaking.

"I asked you for your name."

This time, the voice had more emotion that betrayed my enemy's gender and position. It was female and about one point six meters tall. She was also standing around two or three meters away from me and her voice was muffled by a helmet of mask. Her weapon was either a spear or a bayonet mounted on a long rifle.

My shoulder jolted as the woman forced the blade forward and it went through my muscle, sliced apart the armor and tore my rifle in two.

Sparks flew as the complicated wiring inside the new generation weapon were cut as the electronics were working to support the gyroscopic functions encased in this stock.

My body screamed in pain but I jut barely managed to hold it in. The corners of my eye slowly started to turn red. My breathing became shaky as my entire right arm began to shake uncontrollablly. She must have severed a nerve or something.

But even so, my trained mind continued to take in information and process it carefully.

The blade turned out to be a sword. A long one at that. She was either wielding a long two meter sword or her spear's blade was an entire sword. If the second option was correct... If either of the options were correct, it would prove that my attacker was not human.

No sane person would wield such an odd pole arm.

No normal person would be able to wield it professionally.

No standard weapon could slice through literally bullet-proof armor like butter.

"Since you aren't going to answer me," She removed her blade, releasing a torrent of blood that gushed from my shoulder in a thick red river. Almost instantly, blood began to pool around my body. "I have no obligation to keep to alive."

Unreasonable amounts of oxygen was demanded for by my brain. And my body proceeded to concede to those demands. My lungs began to hyperventilate and drastically increase my heart rate... And the speed of my bloodloss.

As my skin paled, my body's natural painkiller - adrenaline, began to wear off. And I was fully assaulted by the blindingly white pain that rocked my body to the very core. But due to shock, I couldn't even scream to let out my pain and could only watch as my life literally flowed out of me.

With a final burst of strength that left me even closer to death, I somehow managed to turn my body to see my killer.

She was cleaning the weapon she had sliced me with; a pole with a katana tied onto it. On her back, a two meter long sword was slung on lazily. Her armor was that of a samurai but decorated with modern aspects that made it seem futuristic like glowing yellow lights which were designed similarly to the yellow type Elements.

Sadly, her face was covered with an opaque visor just like mine which kept me from actually seeing her.

"So it was you who killed these three." I gasped.

The armored killer nodded. "Only in, do you speak. If you spoke sooner, I would have spared you." She turned to leave. "But to answer your question, no. I did not kill them."

With that, she disappeared into a fine mist, leaving only a gust of wind.

I forcefully tried to calm my breathing to reduce my rate if bloodloss. If I could slow down my heart rate, I might be able to crawl down and maybe find a first aid kit in the office downstairs.

I failed miserably.

Not only did my heart rate speed up, my body temperature began to drop and it instinctively started shivering which only sped up the process of my death.

With slow shaky movements, I reached up and tore off my helmet, pulling out my precious picture and held it tightly in a clenched fist. Tears began to fall as my life drained away.

Even now as I lay on my back, vision fading away, holding nothing more than an old tattered photograph, I could still hear her breathing, feel her touch. Those memories were what kept me going this long. No, it wasn't those memories. It was her presence that kept me going. The thought that she'd be there for me, waiting for my weekly visit every time I got a day off from work or didn't have a match.

I really died pathetically didn't I? God damn... Here I thought I'd die in a blaze of glory. I never imagined I'd go out without even letting out a single shot.

My eyes closed. Only a fading image of her smiling face remained. But as I uselessly hung on to that fading memory, I died.

What do you expect? I'd survive after losing three liters of blood?

~~~~~~~~Two/Akemi~~~~~~~

"Welcome!" I spread my arms dramatically and spun in a circle. "To Academy City!"

I was in an acceptably nervous mood. Not that I showed it but I really was nervous. Well, I tried not to.

Haimura on the other hand, immediately saw through my façade and placed a reassuring hand on my forehead. "You know you don't have to act all tough right?"

"Mmm!" I shook my head adamantly. "I'm fine!"

He gave me an even more deadpan look.

"Your arms are shaking and your sweat is cold. You are effectively terrified."

Why can he see through me so easily? It's irritating sometimes... But somehow, I actually feel thankful that he can.

For the entirety of my life. Well, the part I can remember that is, I have only ever been close to my siblings. And even then, we were not THAT close.

Having someone that could see through my hidden fears. Having someone who used that knowledge to show that he cares for me... Really reassured me.

The boy embraced me in a hug. "You know I won't just abandon you just cause your scared right? We've made it all the way here so let's bring an end to all this."

Yeah. I really am happy that I met him.

"How... Do you always say the right things?"

"Eh? I just say what's going on in my mind though..."

I hugged him back tightly. The fabric of his uniform was rough on my cheek but his scent was strangely calming.

"Thank you."

*Cough*

"You're choking me..."

I jumped back. "Ahh... Sorry..."

Haimura coughed a few more times before breaking into a laugh.

"Don't worry about it. I think it's about time we got moving though."

Eh? Oh shit! I spent too much time...

"Yeah! Let's go!" I turned and bounded off to hide my reddening face.

It was only ten minutes later that my mind cooled and I realized that it was impossible for Haimura to keep up.

"Akemi. Don't run off like that again." Haimura complained while pulling my ear playfully.

I made no move to swat him away. Instead, I pulled his own ear in return.

"Uuuuuuuuuuuuuu... You're also to blame for not being able to keep up."

It's a horrible argument but I just said it to rebut him.

Lucky for both of us, he hadn't ventured away from the spot that I left him, allowing me to regroup with him...

Only for him to start pulling my ear as punishment for running off and leaving him lost.

"Oh really?"

I slumped in defeat. The playful anger in his voice made clear to me that he was capable of more than just ear pulling. And I didn't want to get on that side.

We continued our trek into district seven where the Endymion was. It was quite a distance from here though... And surprisingly, the lack of destruction here made it shorter.

Deactivated cars, trucks, buses and trains, mechs and even the odd motorcycle or scooter dotted the streets.

Most of the residents must have been sent underground by the big seven - the board directors I mean.

"Wanna take a car?" I say.

He raised an eyebrow. "You know how to start one up? I don't even know how to jack a normal one let alone one of these fancy Academy City ones."

"Hmm... But it would be better trying than having to walk all the way there..."

"As I said, only if you know how to start one up. And even then, I haven't driven anything before."

It was a valid reason. Academy City machines were leaps and bounds ahead of machines outside of it. Outside of Japan, Academy City was not just a leap or bound away. It was more like a ten hour flight.

"We're stuck walking then."

Our walk went on.

Every now and then, a street light would flicker, a stray animal would run amok in the shadows or an explosion would echo along the countless alleyways crisscrossing the city.

Then a bright light blinded my right eye for a moment. Unlike the light from a machine however, the light wasn't diminished in intensity by tinted glass or anything of the sort. More like a small-scale explosion from a flash-bang... Or whatever they're called. I only remember Yuuitsu testing one out on me before.

"Haimura?!" I screamed. If anything bad happened to him, I wouldn't forgive myself. "What happened... Eh?"

The bright light was coming from his hand?

He laughed quietly. "Sorry for scaring you... I just wanted to try out my ability..."

A lightbulb went off in my mind.

"That's... A genius idea actually." I started. "We're still quite away from district seven. We're in twenty actually. It's quite a long walk away."

His eyes widened. "WHAT? WE HAVE TO WALK THROUGH THIRTEEN MORE DISTRICTS?!"

Huh? What's he talking about? I was just being sarcastic. District seven was just a quick walk through district twenty-one.

"No? It's just a... Oh... Hahahahahahahahahaha!"

It was a common mistake for people who never lived in Academy City before. Since the entire city was like a badly made jigsaw puzzle arranged into a large circle, the districts were scattered around pretty randomly. From our current position at the tip of district twenty which was neighboring eleven, twenty-one and ten, all we had to do was cross a small bridge over a river separating district twenty from twenty-one and make our way quickly through there.

Haimura glared at me through barely concealed anger. His patience was obviously growing thin.

"Ahahah... ha... haha... ha... Ok... I'm... Sorry... hahaa... The districts... in Academy City are not arranged... haaaaaa... In order... Heh."

My speech was so filled with stutters and wheezes that I had to repeat myself four more times before he could understand me. Nothing less than a playful beating awaited me when I finally managed to speak coherently.

Thankfully, our walk continued without further argument other than the occasional yelp of surprise or piece of advice... that rhymed... We didn't say much to each other.

Before long, he had learnt how to use his Slicing Blade up to Level Three capabilities and Blast Furnace to Level Four. A bit of a prodigy this boy.

Apparently, Slicing Blade was a modified version of Meltdowner where the beam was now focused on his arms and was limited to extending forward as blades. The Levels only dictated how long and how varied the shape of the blade was.

Blast Furnace was just what you'd expect it to be - a branch from the pyrokinest base ability like Meltdowner and Radio Noise were to Electromaster.

Instead of simply making fire appear, Blast Furnace allowed the user to change the temperature of the area around him. Either absorbing all the heat and turning the place into a winter wonderland or releasing the heat and scorch everything around him to a crisp. Of course, he could create fire balls and the sort like any normal pyrokinesis user out there. In a way, his ability was way stronger than the base pyrokinest ability thanks to the added quirks.

But it has its setbacks. At Level Four, Haimura could change the temperature of the area at will but it took him a large amount of energy and concentration. Surprisingly, creating fire was no problem to him though. His personal reality was really strong thanks in part to his imagination.

As practice, I had him use his ability to warm the air around us. Winter was just round the corner and the nights were cold.

The cold winds were easily dispelled by his ability and soon, it felt like we were walking on a hot summer afternoon.

'Really useful ability' I thought.

"Hey Haimura. I think it's time to tone it down. It's getting a little too hot."

"..."

Said boy was furrowing his brow for the past couple of minutes. Was he so deep in his concentration to retain the heat?

I waved a palm in his face. "Hellooooooo?"

"..."

A droplet of sweat dripped from his forehead.

"Oi. You can stop making it hot now..."

"... can..."

"Hmm?"

I tilted my head sideways. Half of me was expecting him to be joking and was prepared to slap him for it in return. The other half was slightly concerned.

"I can't..."

"Can't?"

He scratched the back of his neck as sweat dripped from his brow. "I can't cool it down."

"What do you mean you can't?" I used the most exasperated expression I could pull off by half-squinting one eye and raising both my eyebrows as high as possible.

My mind still could not register how he couldn't stop using his ability. It was just... Stupid.

He squinted his eyes in a show of concentration...

The air around us cooled slightly before getting even hotter.

"What the hell are you doing Haimura?!"

"I HAVE NO IDEA!"

"You… have NO IDEA?!"

"YOU DON'T NEED TO SCREAM AND TELL EVERYONE THAT WE'RE HERE!"

"AREN'T YOU SCREAMING TOO?!"

"ITS CAUSE YOU'RE AN IDIOT!"

"IT'S MY FAULT NOW?!"

"WHY THE HELL NOT?!"

I sprayed some cold water at him from a fingertip. Sadly, it had no effect other than getting him drenched.

"Akemi!"

I lunged at him in a tackle. It wasn't meant as an attack but it carried quite a bit of force. Imagine his surprise when I pressed my hands into his chest and held him down in the ground.

"Eh?! Akemi?!"

"Shh."

Icy cold water flowed out from my palms that were pressed onto his chest. Hopefully, it would be able to cool him down.

Soon, he was completely drenched but his mind had registered that he was overheating and his ability stopped heating up the air around him.

"Thanks." His confused expression changed upon realizing what I was doing.

My heart raced upon seeing him smile so earnestly. How does this boy do these things unknowingly?! It's unfair!

I hope no one else fell for this idiot though... I can't say I'd mind having him as my own after all this is over.

That is if I survive though...

A finger poked my side. "Uhhh... Akemi..."

"Hmm?"

"Your water is boiling..."

"WHAT?!"

"YOU DON'T HAVE TO SHOUT!"

~~~~~~~~Haimura~~~~~~~~~

The remaining stretch to our destination continued in relative silence. By relative silence I mean I didn't talk to the pouting pink haired girl beside me and that the atmosphere was filled with noises of battle. Hearing the occasional loud explosion or screaming jet plane screeching as it dropped high explosives over something was as frequent as a hearing a drum in a drum solo.

I surprised even myself at how quickly I had adapted to the situation. Some people took days or even weeks to start getting used to such things. I barely needed an hour… Sometimes, I scare even myself.

Anyway, after realizing that the water was boiling my because of my ability (her cold water actually helped me concentrate better and helped me cool down the area) but because she was releasing hot water while she got embarrassed by her own thoughts, Akemi had cut down a nearby lamppost and dashed off.

I have to thank my ability for not letting me get burnt. Apparently, Blast Furnace does not allow me to get burnt if I know how to activate it. The same couldn't be said for Slicing Blade though. The ability was just as dangerous to me as to other people.

I wonder if there's a way to make it harmless?

Luckily for me, Akemi was waiting for me three junctions ahead so I guess she wasn't that angry... I really hope she doesn't meet Yuriko... All hell would break loose if these two met.

As my mind ran though those and several other out of context thoughts, we came across the first signs of fighting: a series of flattened buildings.

No, they were not simply collapsed like dominoes. The buildings were thoroughly destroyed. Smashed if you will. There was nothing other than crushed debris.

Akemi knelt down and picked up several pieces of glass-like shards. "Elements have died here..." She pointed into the distance. "Thousands."

I looked at the distant field of crushed concrete where Akemi was pointing.

"I don't see anything though..."

"Look closely at the ground."

I squinted my eyes. I may need glasses soon.

"I don't see anyth... Oh." My eyes adjusted and I noticed millions-no, trillions of those shards covering the ground like a thick blanket of snow. I hadn't seen them earlier due to the lack of light.

She stood up and nodded. Armor formed up out of thin air to encase her chest, back, arms and legs.

"Our enemy is here. And she may be losing. Our turn to fight has come."

Akemi's long nodachi was gone but she still had her guns and katanas who hung from her back. Her earlier attitude was completely gone. Even when she fought those powerful Elements that broke her sword, the intensity of her gaze back there was incompatible to the one she was showing me now.

Her face was illuminated by the faint glowing of the nearby Endymion. It towered over the remaining building like a monument of all the world's sins coming together in one giant building that dictated where the fighting will be.

She looked at me straight in the eye. It was the first time I had seen her so serious. "I ask you again Haimura; will you help me kill my master?"

I focused on the names of my abilities. Due to me having two abilities instead of the normal one, I had to mentally state the name of the ability I wanted to use before I could activate it. The same thought that would allow me to elongate my blades could also tell my other ability to create lances of fire. Its as confusing to me as it is to you.

 _Slicing Blade_

White blades extended from my elbows out over the back of my hand created one meter long swords on each arm.

 _Blast Furnace_

In both of my free hands, smallish orbs of fire glowed and expanded into baseball sized fireballs.

Surprising how I thought that Yuriko was completely out of my league with her ability and now I had two of my own. Not that they can measure up to the immense power of hers.

It took immense concentration to maintain both my abilities like that, I only practiced using one at a time, but I felt that it was worth it to show my resolve in helping her.

I may not be well versed in my abilities but I will do my utmost to help this girl. This girl who I just met a few hours ago. This girl who was prepared to sacrifice herself to save Last Order and I knowing that direct combat was not yet strong point. This energetic girl who, despite her painfully short history of which she could only remember being a ginuea pig for an insane scientist, kept up her act of keeping up her act to calm me down. This girl who is like a sister to me now even though we had been together for such a short time.

If killing someone who has killed many hundreds or even thousands other for the sake of an 'experiment' will free her from her bonds tying her to this dark City, I'd gladly do my best to help.

"I will. You know I will."

"It'll be dangerous. You may die."

I nodded once.

I had met death once. He took the form of a massive sphere covered with so many guns that it would make a porcupine ashamed.

Back then, I was saved by a woman who put her family's life before her own.

Now, someone was in need of help. And if just the risk of me losing my life was about to dishearten me, that woman's sacrifice would have been in vain.

Fueled by some unknown resolve, I felt my abilities reach their peak potential. The area around me heated up and the concrete itself started to melt. My blades extended and grew to a staggering two meters extending out from the base of my elbow. Lines bearing striking resemblance to mythical runic symbols created several layers like an intricate spider web.

"If it means freeing you and your siblings, why the hell not?"

Contrary to my actions, Akemi started laughing instead of being touched by my words.

"I guess you really are the most interesting one after all." She strode over the melting asphalt as if it was nothing to touch my face with freezing cold fingers. "Thank you Haimura."

The next few seconds were a blur. I felt some slight movement before feeling a soothingly cool sensation glance my lips. Before my eyes even linked what happened to what I saw, a faceless mask had concealed Akemi's face. She bounded off at such speed that within my second shocked breath, nothing was left in front of me but a breeze and an afterimage of the girl.

What the hell just happened?

~~~~~~Maho Nishizumi~~~~~~

Three shadows moved forward. The rest stayed behind my tank. Yuriko, One and the new guy called Four were moving off on their own to meet the enemy. Apparently they knew the combatants. Our recent addition was surprising but it was of no concern to me. If he wished to help, I wouldn't stop him. We need every bit of help we can get.

I drew a little arrow with a number three moving from my current position on the map to a position near a bridge.

They would be the ones to relay the exact position and of the enemy and relay them to the JMSDF forces off the coast. Aircraft carriers Souryuu and Hiryuu were ready for deployment. Carriers Akagi and Kaga were resupplying their planes with new payloads. Battleships Kongou, Hiei and Haruna were ready of offshore bombardment of the area. Battleship Kirishima was fifteen minutes away at a port along the coast of Chiba for repairs.

In total, twenty minutes to go for full power offshore bombardment of Academy City.

I ran through several high probability situations that could happen but immediately dismissed them. Those situations would only happen if our enemy were a normal force. For a monster such as the one we are facing, conventional tactics had to be thrown out the window.

A flurry of taps hit the side of the tank. I glanced at Hikari who shrugged in return. It was a tiresome process to open the reinforced cupola but I did so anyway. I always commanded my tank while watching the situation from outside the cabin.

A dark figure was squatting on the compartment above the engine of my tank. He wore a harness holding a long range radio and had a tablet in this hands. "Commander. You may wanna see this..."

"What is it?"

"Well, I was scanning the area for the fun of it and came across seven JSDF tags. All of them KIA."

I nodded and gestured for him to continue. It was normal. Heck, expected even. The JSDF troops stationed here must have fought bravely. They were the first to start fighting. Seven casualties was actually a good number considering the scale of the attack.

"And when I looked up the names of the dead, I noticed one Kazoku tag with live vitals." He hopped to me and showed me the tablet display.

True enough, beside three KIA JSDF tags, there was one stationary blue circle. One surviving Kazoku soldier. However, instead of bringing me excitement to see a fellow solder here, I felt only suspicion.

There were no Kazoku members stationed here. None were deployed here too. We were the one and only vanguard and recon team.

I tapped the circle to call up the details of the soldier. It was probably one or the soldiers from the convoy who wanted to be a hero and got off without permission.

[Name: |Iwao Ikezawa/Nishizumi|  
Assigned squad: |Kazoku team five, battle group seven|  
Residence:|Osaka, Nishizumi style HQ|  
Medical status:|Green|]

My eyes widened. Iwao?! Here?! He wasn't part of the convoy and wasn't he supposed to be in Osaka? How is he here?

I controlled my reaction. "Were there any other teams being dispatched here?"

The soldier shook his head. It seemed that he was still oblivious to the obvious connection to the renegade soldier. "No ma'am. All Kazoku teams are on defense or elimination duties. The only squad sent here is ours."

The medical status icon suddenly turned orange.

"What does orange mean?"

"Light injuries."

The icon changed yet again to red.

"Red?"

"Critical."

Alarms blared in my mind. Iwao's status had changed from green to orange to red in seconds. Does that mean he's dead?

"Commander, what will you have us do?"

The soldier's voice held a hint of suggestiveness as if he knew what I was thinking. He must be sharper than he let on.

If I went to him, he may have died before I reached him. And if I were to go, I risked jeopardizing the mission for sentimental reasons. Reasons that were enough to warrant court martial.

The soldier tapped his helmet and gestured to the four other members of his team arm wrestling. "You may be busy with coordinating with the Navy but those four are more than a little free."

A sigh escaped my lips. I gave him a look that conveyed my desperation. "Tell those four to go to GROUP headquarters in district fourteen to offer medical aid. Knowing him, he's most likely on the roof sniping and got caught in the open."

He nodded, saluted and hopped off the tank to relay my command.

Iwao… You better not die before those men get to you.

An intense eruption of dust blew back my hair. White wings stretched out from behind a group of buildings. Yuriko had joined the fight. I tapped the receiver on my throat choker. "Admiral, what is the fastest you can release a full offensive?"

My tank's engine revved up. The crew knew that our mission was starting.

The reply came fifteen seconds later.

"We can commence battleship bombardment at any time. Kirishima's cannons can apparently reach all the way over there. We will need two volleys to pinpoint the exact timing for effective fire though…"

Two bombardments… I doubt we have the chance. According to Yuriko and her companion, the enemy was powerful enough to shrug of a nuclear attack. Our guns will do pretty much nothing other than provide some kind of distraction. And even then, it may not be effective if it was not at full power.

"How long between bombardments?" I ask. "And when can the aircraft release their birds?"

"Well…" His tone gave me a sickly feeling in my gut. As if confirming my fears that no matter what I or the military did, it would all be for naught as this enemy was something normal people could never hope to defeat. "I'd say any time but there is an extreme amount of turbulence in the air now. It would be tough for them to even fly straight."

"What do you mean an 'extreme amount'?"

"I mean that there is so much wind that its absurd. There should be a tornado forming right ahead of you now but the direction of the wind keeps changing that it looks calm at first glance!"

What did he mean? There's so much wind that there could be a tornado? All I see are two pairs of white wings and a octet of black wings that looked more like tentacles. Did that mean that the boys at sea could not see what I saw here?

"Wait a moment." I place a hand over the receiver and tapped Hikari's shoulder. "Do you see the wings too?"

She nodded meekly. "Mmhmm." Her face was pale. The poor girl was scared out of her wits! To be honest, it was taking a lot more than I expected to stay calm but seeing my crew so frightened really scared me as well.

But it also added to the mystery. If all those outside the city couldn't see what was going on while those in the city could… Were we being isolated by something that was keeping whatever happens inside from getting out?

"Admiral, are you still there?"

"Yeah."

"Its fine. Just a bombardment will do." As much as it would calm my nerves to have a full power attack on the enemy, our current situation must be different from earlier when the planes were flying in. Did something happen when the planes left for re-supplying?

"Thank you commander!"

The admiral's voice gave away how thankful he was for not letting his flyboys get into harm's way. I couldn't blame him. Even now, I was going out of my way to maintain some distance from the fighting so my team would not get killed by shrapnel or whatever was happening behind the thin shield of buildings separating us from them.

Anyway, let's see if a barrier really is separating us from the outside.

"Admiral! Fire at grid 5-4…?"

Static.

"Admiral?"

"BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZTSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSBBBZZZZZZZZZZZ"

Something has definitely happened. Something very, very bad.

~~~~~~Aleister~~~~~~~~

Whew. Making that barrier sure took a lot outta me.

I wiped sweat from my brow and observed the 'angels' fighting down below.

Creating a barrier that restricted people from observing from outside was one thing. Creating it so that they wouldn't notice was another… Though they may have noticed when I completely sealed it so that radios wouldn't work… Oh well.

The three main fighters were doing well I guess. But things will only get harder for the two on my side as Yuuistu learns the full extent of the Accelerator's power. And because that irritating dog decided to implement magic into Rensa, my attacks will be Reflected off like any normal attack. That was probably his plan though. If he failed to kill me with the AAA, he must've had Rensa in reserve. Good thing I played dead back then.

Yuuitsu used her wings to send Dark Matter flying again. The poor boy was having one hell of a bad time cosplaying as a white pinball. Watching Yuriko and Yuuitsu however, was far less entertaining. Both of them were so bad at using their abilities that it was like watching tortoises mate.

I guess there's one thing left for me to try… lets' hope someone stronger than Mugino or the two pitifully mediocre versions of Fiamma and Terra will come to help delay Yuuitsu. This spell is going to take some time.

"Too bad I'm nowhere near your level right," I looked up to the moon. "Hel?"

A three dimensional magic circle spread around me upon my slamming of my blasting rod on the ground.

/:Unexplored Bloodsign:/

\\\:summon:\\\

-[:/Accelerator/:]-

Here goes nothing.

* * *

A.N. AAAAND with that, it's the end of chapter 22. I hope you liked it and heres the AN I wanted you to read:

You may have noticed this; Where is Academy City!? Isn't it supposed to be landlocked?

Yes. Yes it is. In my story, I noticed that I hadn't actually established where AC was… tbh the original series never did much to help but meh. So I decided to move it to the location known in the real world as Kanagawa. IM SORRY I DESTROYED A REAL WORLD LOCATION!

And also, I made a few million people homeless with the addition of the massive stadiums where senshadou and kazoku is practiced but just imagine they live somewhere else okay? Don't be mad at me please… I beg you.

I hope you liked this one, thanks to those of you who read it and even more to those who favved or followed this story, it brings a lot of joy and motivation to see people liking this little thing I made haha!

So here we have character development, some sped up timelines and a little humor i guess... haha! this one was fun to write at the beginning but i was soon scratching my head on how to make the build-up interesting. I cant have our main chars pop up immediately and start having a slugfest right? Tell me if you didnt like anything alright?

Next chap [CONCLUSION BEFORE ICHIRANASAI AND CHRISTMAS!] is prolly out in a week or two (most likely three or two) AND I have an announcement of sorts: Im making a second story based off one-shots from chars from this AU-verse so feel free to put in the comments/reviews on what character you liked the most and wanna see more of. [the first chap is confirmed to be a lemon of Yuriko though(MarkJ, I told you I was gonna write one!)] ALSO, feel free to tell me how I can improve or change to make my story more readable and… stuffs…

That's about it! Thanks again for reading and sorry for the late release! IM DONE WITH EXAMS!


	24. Chapter 23 (Full)

Chapter 23 (Full)

White snow fell from the heavens.

Loud clashes of metal along with the occasional mad cackle or choked shout echoed around the completely silent city.

I scarcely remember what happened. First Yuuitsu was... Hit by some super weapon that her artificial ability failed to reflect even with her wings as shields. Then flashes of red and green fireworks went off beside me before...

My blanket moved?

Wait...

I have a blanket? Where am I? And why is this... Blanket so heavy?

I tilted my head downwards and got a faceful of soft brown hair, billowing in the wind.

Haimura?

All I could see from my position was his messy brown hair stained with... Blood?

With that realization, my sense of smell returned and the stench of iron filled my senses.

"H-ha-eh?"

My throat burned painfully upon squeezing out the syllable. Watching further out into the distance, I could make out a black and blue blur dashing around the buildings, screaming in anger and frustration. It would use its swords to hack and slash at something but was sent flying backwards each time. Each time, it would launch itself, each time it would be sent back with twice the force at some poor building. Now, there was a pile of rubble where what should have once been either an apartment complex or a shopping mall.

And then was the issue of the... Thing that was laughing like a crazed idiot. Covered with a plain white and grey tee and blue jeans, one would never believe the power that monster wielded like it was a toy.

His white wings glowed so spectacularly that they ventured on becoming a soft gold and were lined with detailed feathers which made mine seem dull in comparison...

Wait...

I didn't... Can't...

My ability...

Gone?!

Panicked, I sat myself upright and searched frantically around as if I could fine my ability.

On my right, red crystals lay scattered and on my left, green ones. The boy on my chest with his messy brown hair was unconscious and barely breathing. My breath hitched upon eyeing a short piece of rebar embedded in his upper back.

My throat struggled to create a coherent sentence but my mind raced to remember what happened.

A rock came flying past my head.

"Ooooohh? She's awake! Kekekekekekekeke! Lemme play with this blue one for a moment before I join you alright?!"

"Shut the fuck up!"

The black blur emitted blinding blue sparks and, together with a tsunami-like wave of water that somehow managed to get into the center of the city, slammed into the white demon.

For a second, I thought it was over. I had no memory of that white boy but I knew he was bad news.

Extremely bad news.

He looked just like the boy in my dream. The same blood red eyes, too thin limbs and messy white hair.

Almost like... Me.

The wave exploded into nothing. What was once a massive wall of water, a force that even Academy City's technology would have problems dealing with, a force that could level cities was literally evaporated in a second. Millions of gallons of water had become either steam, tiny droplets or miniscule blocks of eyes that rained down on the city, making the already beautiful snow more spectacular.

But that beauty was as short-lived as my relief.

Along with that water, the black and blue figure was sent flying yet again. This time, it landed right next to me, kicking up dust and sand.

It's armor was cracked and I realized that just like One, this was a humanoid Element.

A little memory was unlocked as I remembered that this was the one that appeared with Haimura just before the white demon appeared.

The figure ripped off its cracked helmet and smiled painfully. Her pretty face was smothered with blood. It ran from her nose, mouth and ears. A large gash on the top of her head made a good portion of her pink hair turn red.

"Nghhhh... A-ake...mi..." The boy on my chest groaned. "Don't... Go... Run."

My chest tightened when I realized that he wasn't speaking to me and instead, to the pink-haired girl fighting the white demon.

She coughed before smiling at me and patting my hair gently.

"Take care of him alright?"

Immediately after that sentence, the Endymion started collapsing and just like that, all my memories came back to me like a flood.

~~~~Fifteen minutes earlier~~~~

"OI! ONE!"

Several black wings that looked like static manifest swung down on the armoured man, sending him flying into a nearby building.

I gnashed my teeth. Yuuitsu was proving to be far stronger than any of us expected. Even though her attacks could not affect me, mine could not affect her as well.

Dark Matter was stuck in a stalemate with her earlier. Aunt Mugino who unexpectedly revealed herself to be a gemstone couldn't even damage her. Four had resorted to trying to blind her with a sandstorm but was stomped underfoot.

None of us had the capability to beat her.

The building that One had been sent flying into started to melt before exploding into a puddle of hot molten concrete. A large dragon made of fire emerged gloriously as One forced himself into an upright position... Before getting smacked back down by Yuuitsu's wings.

The madwoman laughed like a drunk baboon as numerous white swords launched themselves at her while white rhinoceros beetles fired cannonballs at her. None of them even came close to grazing her.

I guess I'll have to try to beat her with brute force... I threw my crutch on the ground and used my ability to support my body.

A small compass appeared in my vision. It spun, and like the first time it appeared, it suddenly stopped moving and the arrow forcibly pointed vertically up while glowing a brilliant white.

A certain boy's face appeared in the back of my mind. Other than a slightly tougher look, he looked exactly the same as me. From the tiny blemishes on his snow white skin and hair and the blood red eyes.

But I paid him no heed.

The only time I saw him was in a dream. He couldn't be real... Right?

White wings emerged from my back as a launched myself at Yuuitsu.

Vector Change vs Vector Change.

This will be fun.

=====Five minutes before that====

One and Four crouched down and observed the battle between Yuuitsu and a white boy who I was extremely annoyed with: Dark Matter.

He hadn't visited me ever since that debacle with Noukan and only now when Yuuitsu tries to do something like that dog does he appear. What does he think he is? Some hero or something?

"Yuriko, Yuuitsu is using your ability. This will be almost impossible for anyone other than you." Four muttered. "The most we siblings can do is to act as distractions or decoys."

"Three has also prepared some naval assistance and Two is coming with a fellow ability user like yourself," One added "we will serve as distractions as many times as needed to defeat her."

I nodded. It was a solid plan apart from one drawback: everyone would be taking hits on my behalf.

If my power was the only one capable of fighting hers, why should I be letting them get hit? I should be able to handle her hits without breaking sweat right?

The two of them stood up, prepared to meet their fate in combat.

"Eh?! We're going already?!"

They nodded.

"Seriously?! Thats the plan?!"

They nodded again.

"So you are just gonna eat hits while I try to whack her?!"

They glanced at each other, shrugged and nodded yet again.

And that was pretty much what happened.

"Just... Die!"

Yuuitsu danced around spears of white while slapping away the wings that were launched towards her. Her face bore a gleeful look. Similar to that of a child in his first party.

I made calculations in my mind to prepare myself to shoot towards her and hold her down. What could go wrong?

But just as I was about to kick off, a white boy emerged out of tiny dust-like particles in the air. He held his arm out to hold me back as another identical boy fought Yuuitsu with an army of beetles.

"Don't go. You can't beat her."

I raised an eyebrow.

Was that his greeting? After leaving me in the dark after my sister died, not even saying a word, the first thing he says to my when we meet in the midst of fighting another threat to Japan was 'You can't beat her?'! The gall of this boy!

"Are you seriously telling me that after you ditched me that day?!"

Dark Matter frowned slightly before understandimg what I meant. He still dared to act ignorant?!

"Ah... Yeah... I am sorry about that but can we focus on the more pressing matter for the time be-"

His sentence was cut short as several pitch black wings slammed into his body, tearing his torso to shreds. Thankfully for everyone's stomachs, he simply shattered like a ceramic pot rather than letting all kinds of organs explode from the impact.

I swallowed my anger and redirected it to Yuuitsu. Currently, she was happily cackling away at her newfound abilities. Not that she was using it any better than me. This damned ability was so powerful that even if we wielded it, we couldn't keep up with the incredible demands it brought upon our minds. I have no doubt that even if I was completely healthy and my brain was in tip-top shape, I'd still have problems mastering all the uses of this one ability.

Imagine using two at the same time.

I shudder just thinking how tiring it would be.

With an empowered hop, I launched myself up into the air like a demented moth who forgot it had wings, bringing myself close enough to Yuuitsu, if just for a moment, to feel her breath on my cheek. Within the next millisecond however, a strong opposing force started to work between us. Our wings flickered like a dying lightbulb whilst our powers became severely limited. Almost as if two users of this one ability were never supposed to meet.

No... No two users were even supposed to co-exist.

Two users of Vector Change.

The ability, when granted to a human, became known as 'The One Who Wields the Power of God.'... Or whatever Dark Matter called it that day.

In the past, there was already a balance, it seemed, between all the ability users and the world.

The six abilities, not including that irritating boy who is essentially immortal, have existed in the world since talented humans walked the earth. Had only manifested in one person per lifetime. Having two meant that the abilities would eventually cancel each other out.

My realization struck me like a sack of bricks but at the same time, filled me with apprehension. I was far from an expert on such matters. If anyone should be making such hypotheses, it should be that boy who was just turned into a crater along with One.

Yuuitsu and I passed each other before any of us could do anything and before long, the boring, unexciting 'battle' consisting of slapping each other repeatedly with our wings resumed.

Of course, to the random viewer it may seem awe inspiring. Massive amounts of energy slamming into each other, creating more than enough wind to make one go temporarily deaf from how loud it was. In addition to that, the more than overkill amounts of cursing that spewed from our mouths in tandem with splashes of saliva was more than enough to get even the most vulgar of people to cringe spectacularly from the obvious overuse of certain words.

In short, it was the most boring fight ever seen in the history of ability users but the most colorful in terms of language.

Well, I shan't bore you with the details (There are none. It was as boring as watching turtles fight) so...

~~~~~~Maho Nishizumi~~~~~~

A pair of soldiers raised their fists into the air. Contact with enemy confirmed.

"How is it?"

Hopefully, Yuuitsu would be busy contending with Yuriko and her companions, giving our sniper ample to time take her out quickly and efficiently.

Of course, if he misses, we would have to fill the air with bullets in hope that at least one of them connects. No matter what, Yuuitsu was still human and a bullet is more than capable of eliminating, or at least incapacitating them.

"Contact made but..."

"But?"

"We can't really do... Anything."

"Can you elaborate your statement?"

A massive gust of wind sent my cap on a flight. Dust, glass, small rocks and element remains rained down like hail on my tank, applying the outside with a thick layer of camouflage. The inside was another story however, Hikari screeched in surprise when sand flowed into her compartment like water. Surprisingly, the others took it well and started opening whatever ports within reach to drain as much debris out of the tank as possible.

Then again, as well-trained my crew and the Kazoku commandos with us were, that explosion was something else entirely. It easily was the largest one we've seen since the intensity of the meteor showers.

"Scouts! Come in! What the hell was that?!"

Ever since we realized that a barrier of sorts had been set up to encase the entirety of Academy City, eliminating what seemed to be visual, audio and even radio contact between us and our naval support, we had relied on short-range radios and visual contact.

It worked rather well but we always ran the risk of being detected or intercepted... Not that anyone else in the City would actually have the means to do so. With all electrical sources down, all remaining systems must've been running frantically on back-up generators. Those things were unwieldy at best, but that was only applied to normal technology.

There, of course, was still the possibility that some people would have wonder generators what can run on almost nothing for weeks on end in this wonder-city but most of those would have been dedicated to life-support or medical systems. So the risk of someone randomly using power on radios that would have low priority compared to tuning the radios to official management stations.

"Ahhhhh the white one got sent flying and uhhh... The girl that was with us seems to be very... Agitated? I'm not sure if that is the correct word since she's smiling but screaming profanities..." Another crash interrupted him. This time, we were prepared for it and managed to close whatever hatches that were within reach before any debris flowed in. "There's also this new pair, boy and girl. They seem to be using some new kind of power?"

His voice wavered a little from the suddenness of the situation. From transparent predators to one weak looking girl who can use a completely absurd ability and men, able to harness the power of the elements to the pure oddity that this city is. No doubt that stress had an important part to play in his insecurity. Losing the reassurance of naval back up was one thing, having all contact with the outside being cut off was another. Even I am feeling queasy from information overload and lack of sleep.

Dust filled the air and along with it, it's familiar musky smell.

Several small birds circled the city but made no move to leave. One in particular, kept trying to get through a certain area in the barrier but was denied access. Could they seem something we can't? Birds saw the world in colors many times more vivid than ours. Who knows what they could be observing.

"Elaborate. What power?"

Knowing the powers of our new comrades or enemies was a must. Unlike Yuriko and her partners, the rest of us are powerless and without back up. Caught in the open, we would be slaughtered. Just like how the Elements killed so many, it was due to most people lacking the means to defend themselves. We would be killed because we are normal.

"Well, the boy has some glowing weapons? On his arms? And occasionally shoots fire and stuff and the girl just made some blackish armor like the two that were with us and-"

"Calm down. You're going too fast."

He took a deep breath before speaking more slowly and concisely.

"The female created some armor not unlike our two companions earlier. She uses two pistols and two swords in tandem. They are currently eliminating a small group of Elements and are moving towards the Target."

The Target in question was Kihara Yuuitsu, the one who had apparently caused this small scale war in Japan.

Our original mission was to get refugees from Osaka who were unable to get into the underground bunkers in time and move them to Tokyo where the military presence was much stronger. Of course, it is practically impossible to get 'everyone' out but this was done in a bid to reduce casualties.

Along the way, the orbital bombardment had suddenly stopped due to interference in Academy City and along with an elite Kazoku team, I and my crew had moved into the city not to kill Yuuitsu, but to visually confirm what was going on as well as set up coordinates for our battleships along the coasts of Kanagawa to commence bombardment and hopefully eliminate her.

But as with all plans, it was subject to change. A lot of change.

With the realization that supernatural abilities were more or less real, we had become extremely reliant on Yuriko, One and the new arrival, Four to be our front line when it became clear that Yuuitsu herself was wielding a very powerful ability. In addition, Iwao, my stepbrother, a Kazoku soldier, had mysteriously appeared in Academy City without aid and in serious trouble. All this and the sudden barrier that had formed over Academy City blocking visual, audio and radio contact between the inside and out.

"Alright. Return to Tiger. We are leaving the area. With Yuriko joining the fight," as if in response to me naming her, she jumped up into the air and swooped down at something, probably Yuriko in a brutal physical attack, "it's going to be far more dangerous here. We are falling back to district eleven along with the rest."

The soldier agree wholeheartedly and along with his companion, came running to my tank.

It was clear to everyone that I was running away from the action but I do not regret my decision. Staying would not only out the lives of those under me in danger, it could potentially hinder Yuriko's efforts. Our only hope would be to regroup, fine a way past the barrier and get our ships to rain hell down upon Yuuitsu.

Giving Hikari a signal the moment the two got on board the tank, the Tiger lurched forward like the cat it was named after and thundered towards a certain building in district eleven.

"Good luck Yuriko," I whispered. "You'll need it."

~~~~~~~~~Yuriko~~~~~~~~~~

"No matter how flashy we try to make it, it's still just the two of us in a catfight on a large enough scale to level buildings isn't it?"

Yuuitsu guffawed while levelling another building. Seriously though, the number of buildings left standing in a five hundred meter diameter around us could be counted with one hand. It was a wonder that the Endymion is still standing.

"Yeah. But if I have even the slightest chance of killing all of those who killed sensei, especially you, or achieve something unique to all Kiharas, I'd do this for eternity."

Ah. There it was again. Being unique of all Kiharas. Was she obsessed with that or something?

"What's so important about being unique among all the Kiharas anyway?"

Flicking a finger, I sent a nearby pile of debris flying towards Yuuitsu at five times the speed of sound along with that question. The madwoman sent them back at me twice as fast in response before screaming something about being unique and how her sensei wanted her to be as such.

Why couldn't I hear what she said exactly?

It wasn't because of the incredible shockwaves caused by us toying with the sound barrier. Neither was it because of One and Four shouting at me to brace myself before creating barriers for themselves nor was it Dark Matter, who appeared right before me only to be sent flying and screaming like a girl.

It was because of a super low frequency vibration coming from beneath out feet.

You might think that something that low would be too low for human ears to pick up and would do nothing to impair speech but imagine it going on when there were tons or rubble littering the ground. Imagine the vibrations being so powerful and most likely supernatural in nature that buildings shook violent but never came close to falling.

The 'earthquake' went on for several seconds, scaring the life out of me who watched helplessly as my ability nullified the majority of the affects whilst everyone else vibrated like bobble heads in a jeep on a mountain path.

In addition to the quake was incredible gusts of wind. The samr wind that sent Dark Matter flying and screaming. It was powerful enough to even send a five ton block of concrete several meters back, coming to a stop at the foot of a building.

Suddenly, everything calmed down.

One and Four hesitantly lowered their elemental shields. Dark Matter popped his head out of a puddle of himself...? And his companion, a white woman released aunt Mugino from her protective hug.

Remind me to interrogate her as to why she was here.

Yuuitsu shakily opened her mouth to speak before she was silenced by the appearance of another supernatural occurrence - a massive white circle which quickly turned red at an alarming rate.

It covered the city like a layer of snow, covering each object on the ground evenly so that if viewef by satellite, the city would seem like it had become a magic circle.

Don't ask me how I guessed it was a magic circle. It has absolutely nothing to do with Last Order's cartoons of witches and magical girls and how similarly the sigils made by the main character looked like the intricate patterns observed in the circle which, mind you, expanded from the Endymion to what I guessed were the circular borders of Academy City.

And just as suddenly as it appeared, the circle retracted back into the space elevator with no apparent reason. Did whatever was planned fail?

"What is going-ahgahhhhhhhhhhh?!"

Were the last words Yuuitsu uttered before her wings instinctively moved to protect her from an immense blast of light which effectively vaporized her.

The others, including Dark Matter disappeared from view like cockroaches scattering from a flashlight. Well, they had a good reason to flee. Yuuitsu was effectively impervious to their attacks. If there was something powerful enough to break through her artificial ability like a sheet of paper... Why not run?

Noticing this, I made my way into hiding but as frozen by a certain voice.

"Seriously Aleister?! You call me here to deal with something so weak that it can't handle a little attack like that?!"

His voice echoed powerfully amidst the thick dust that was kicked up by the blast. My eyes were still partially blinded from the blast and in addition to the dust, I had no idea what was what.

I've never heard that voice before but it seemed ingrained into my mind.

As if it was a part of me.

His footsteps clacked painfully loudly on the once smooth concrete floor. Slowly, the scrawny frame of a boy appeared from behind the dust. Slowly, my vision started to refocus and the details came flooding into my mind.

"Hmm? Another one?"

The figure raised his head a little... And the entire dust cloud was blown away by hurricane level winds, giving me full view of him.

With his white and grey striped tee, black skinny pants and long messy white hair were nowhere near peculiar but his red eyes and shark-like grin told a different story.

It was as if the figure from my dreams had come to life.

My chest tightened in fear whilst my legs, no longer supported by either my crutch or my ability began to wobble. His very presence reeked of power, it was powerful enough to seemingly absorb mine or at least nullify it. Was this the power of a true enemy?

"Hmph. This one won't even fight." He mumbled, kicking a tiny pebble up into the air.

The harmless motion was followed by another, a little flick of his pinky finger. But the results of that action was... More than just destructive.

The pebble, coupled with a familiar change of vectors, suddenly became even more dangerous than a missile.

Moving at speeds faster than my brain could register, the beam of light produced by the piece of debris gained so much heat from air resistance that it was effectively vaporized just before it hit me.

"Not even a flinch? Maybe this one is really a gone case. Goodbye then third-rate."

Still frozen in shock, I barely moved a muscle when he kicked another random piece rubble in my direction, sending it flying at five or more times the speed of sound. This projectile was meant to kill, not intimidate. It would not disappear right before it's target. However, even knowing all that, I merely stood like a fool, watching his actions with an odd fascination combined with fear.

This is the end I thought.

Lenses closing, I accepted my fate as an eliminated target.

A single tear fell from my eye.

I guess I'll never see my sisters again... Not my mom and dad too... Haimura too... All the friends I made... Reina would be rather disappointed too... That I died so pathetically...

But a single shout woke me from my retarded state.

"YURIKO!"

That shout was followed by a tremendous roar and what seemed like two blocks of glass shattering.

I would recognize that voice anywhere.

Haimura?

My eyes shot open to see... The boy I longed to see spit blood on my face. His arms held my shoulders tightly for support. A large red stain colored his midsection.

Behind him, red and green light, once bright and vibrant began to mellow out into dead-looking shards of tinted glass which fell to the ground.

Directly behind him, the white boy had his eye widened in amusement amidst flames which threatened to turn the entire area into hell on earth.

I blinked once, registering the scene.

This brown haired boy, in some odd uniform, had taken a shot for me?

What...

"Are you still blur on what happened girl?" The albino demon asked. "I'm sure you are."

He took a step towards me, a step that pressured me to run and yet held me rooted to the ground.

"Your friends saved you. Two central core type golems based off elements moved in front of you. One created a fire dragon somehow and the other, a rock wall. Helped to reduce the round velocity by quite a bit though they died for it."

Sadistic chuckles accompanied his evil grin.

"And that boy took the hit for you. He sure has balls of steel to eat a shot with his body like that. Reminds me of some damn hero."

With his explaination, my brain finally started working again and the realization almost killed me there and then.

One and Four had sacrificed themselves for me and more importantly, the boy who was sinking to his knees and pulling me along was Haimura.

~~~~~~~Dark Matter~~~~~~~~

"What have you done Aleister?"

"Called in the only thing capable of beating Yuuitsu"

I balled my fists in anger.

"We had her! And that 'thing' you called in is about to kill Yuriko!"

I created several beetles to move into protect Yuriko if One and Four were to fail to protect her. I had no doubt they couldn't or wouldn't but in case they were eliminated, I needed something to protect her before I joined the fray. As much as I could split my consciousness, I always risked the chance of losing control if I gave a double full autonomy. Hence, I maintained a strict rule of only having two doubles at any one time.

"You know you couldn't beat her. Yuriko can't handle the processes due to her impaired mental strength and Yuuitsu was getting stronger by the second." Aleister shot back. "This was a last resort. I do not want to kill Yuriko but I need some time before I can send him back. Can you-"

His voice was drowned out by an explosion which my beetles reported was a railgun.

The Accelerator as Aleister called him had launched a rod of rebar at Yuriko. One moved forward as a shield and created a flame creature only to be impaled and destroyed by the rod. Four met the same fate and had his core destroyed. The last casualty would be Haimura who ran in front of his beloved to take the hit.

Blood spurted from his back and mouth from the shock.

"Aleister!"

"Give me ten minutes!"

"You'll pay for this! I liked that kid!"

Destroying this body, my consciousness moved into a new body to rush at Accelerator.

Opposite me was Two, another creation of Yuuitsu like One and Four who represented water.

She was faster than me and made contact first, only to sent hurtling towards a building, the shockwave sending the already shaky Yuriko tumbling to the ground.

Ten minutes was the time to delay.

I am sooooo gonna fail.

"Accelerator!"

The tyrant's eyes moved away from the helpless Yuriko, towards me.

Welp. He reacted.

"Dark Matter?"

His eyes, widening in neither surprise or fear and instead in anger, made me hesitate in my attack for a second.

That second cost me dearly.

A thin, bony hand, appearance-wise, completely harmless, came into contact with my chest... And completely annihilated it.

Moving my consciousness to one of my accompanying beetles, I helplessly watched as the demon grew grand, golden wings and a halo that matched even the holiest of angels.

His attacks were relentless, not only tearing up but vaporising my numerous creations.

What the hell did Aleister do to make him hate Dark Matter this much?

Noting that Yuriko had fallen unconscious due to the shockwaves of his attacks, I moved quickly to intercept him and delay his advance.

Eight minutes more...

~~~~~~~~Akemi/Two~~~~~~~

Haimura...

Damn.

One and Four were gone and I am already in full attack mode. My healing abilities are currently cut by half and there is the problem of that angel/demon/thing/boy/monster rampaging around in a bid to kill off Dark Matter.

Not that he'd have a chance.

How do you kill something that was the epitome of creation. Dark Matter, with the power to create something out of nothing, endlessly at that, was the effective representation of creation.

But he did make a good attention grabber.

Taking the chance to quickly heal Haimura as much as I could from a distance, enough to keep him alive for only a couple of minutes mind you, I moved back and prepared to combat the white demon should Dark Matter retreat or somehow get eliminated.

A couple of ex-combatants, a white girl and a woman who looked like a model were evacuating the area. Three also notified me that several soldiers were running like ants.

Welp. Cant help them.

A long glance at the colorful shards around Haimura reminded me of how powerful that opponent is.

My breath shuddered.

When the two of them sacrificed themselves, a painful strain on our mental bond screamed and dragged fear out from the deepest recesses of mind.

I'm sure Three felt the effects too.

Now isn't the time to grieve, I told myself. What's important is holding back the enemy.

Dark Matter on the other hand, was making far more progress than me.

He had already drawn his rival away from the unconscious pair and started reinforcing the Endymion to reduce damage to it along with the chances of it falling.

Now that I think of it, the world would literally end if it fell.

The incredible size and height of it would equate to several large meteors impacting on the Earth.

"Are you related to One and Four?" A robotic voice broke me out of my thoughts.

Behind me, a large, two meter tall white beetle fidgeted as it adjusted its wings. It seemed to vibrate it's wings to create an artificial voice.

"Dark Matter?" I asked back.

The beetle shook it's head slightly.

"Yeah, then. I'm Two, one of the two remaining siblings."

Seeming to sigh, the awkwardly colored beetle shook it's wings, vibrating them in a way that allowed me to 'hear' it 'speak'.

"Well, no matter how confident I am of my ability, I know the limits of my..." As the earth shook from an attack from the winged boy, the beetle stopped mid-speech, like a computer that was trying it's best to operate more than its processor could handle. "Sorry about that. As I was saying, and as you can see, I am stretched to my limit fighting both that boy and limiting the damage to the city."

That sudden revelation reminded me that the city has taken surprisingly little damage ever since Dark Matter had commenced his assault. Even the Endymion, a building held up by only three support pillars and massive electromagnetic batteries (which only now I realize may not be even operational), barely even shook.

"So if you would, could you hold back that boy for a few minutes? Just... Six and a half would do."

Six and a half? What was with that oddly precise answer? I thought.

But before I could even think of how suspicious his request was, as well as what that request would entail, my mouth began running on its own.

"That's fine with me. Just make sure the Endymion doesn't fall."

With that, the beetle transformed into a boy with brown hair and a brown leather vest, shot me a salute, and shot towards the Endymion like a missile.

Meanwhile, his double who was fighting his equally white rival feigned defeat, disappearing like a mist.

Its my time to shine I guess.

~~~~~~~~~Yuriko~~~~~~~~~~

White snow...

Why was there snow?

I stared at the two fighters.

With my memory back, I knew what happened. I knew what was done to save me, to protect me.

But why...

Why can't I move?

The first was my sister, saving me with herself when I should have used my ability on her.

Second was One, who had saved me once from the airport and now from the boy from my nightmares.

Third was Four who had barely met me and yet joined his brother in a bid to protect me.

Forth was Haimura who put himself in front of me knowing full well he had no chance to survive should the projectile hit.

Next was Dark Matter who I watched silently, half conscious as he drew white away from me.

Lastly was this girl. This girl who seemed to be doing the fighting for Haimura in place of me.

What I should have done was to use my ability right?

But why can't I?

Is it because I am scared of that massive power? Yes.

Is it because of how confused I am? Yes.

But aren't those just crappy excuses?

Why can't I actually do something?

Just like that incident on the plane. Why could I take action then and not now?

Why?

*Cough*

My eyes shot towards the new sound.

Haimura stirred.

Raising his head and turning his body, he managed to push himself up with his arms. With a damn rod stuck in his back.

His breath, ragged and laborious from the immense pain he must be feeling brushed across my blank expression.

"Heh. Your fine... That's... *Cough* great..."

Blood dripped from his jaw but he continued to push himself. Now on his knees, Haimura shook in both cold and pain and yet managed to find a way to get into an upright position.

"Where..."

My cracked voice sounded nothing like usual. It was hollow and shaky, just thinking about how weak I sounded is both painful and shameful.

"Why are you?"

"Because she's waiting for me."

"She?" I asked.

A part of me knew that he was referring to the pink haired girl and another, refused to believe that he was actually doing such a reckless thing for her.

Before I could even elaborate on my question, he smiled and continued.

"Because I want to protect her smile."

"..."

Damnit Haimura.

What was with that heroic phrase?

Don't you know how pathetic you looked while saying that? Blood dribbling from your jaw, a thick sheen of sweat covering your body, dirty and smelly.

Even then...

I understood why people could fight.

'They wanted to protect.'

The answer to all my earlier questions could be answered with that one phrase.

Even that boy from my dream.

His violence could be explained by that same phrase. He wanted to protect.

Why could I use my ability even when faced with great crisis at the beginning of this cursed adventure?

I wanted to protect.

Why did Worst, Reina, put herself in front of me. Why did Haimura do that?

Protect. Protect. Protect.

Yes, I have used my ability for a different reason before. When I fought Kihara Noukan and his Five Over as well as his Anti-Art Attachment.

That reason was anger and grief.

It made me powerful. But I had no control.

This time though.

I am ready.

To protect my friends, my family and everyone else in this damn City.

Vector Change.

The two words brought strength to my entire body. My legs, once again could work properly. Emotions no longer had a negative impact and fear was banished.

I had an aim.

It isn't as grand as what I was ready to do, to protect everyone.

Currently, this aim was concentrated on point.

The stupid boy who ran off to protect a girl he couldn't have met too long ago.

The stupid boy who I can finally admit out loud, even though I kissed him before, that I love.

Gentle white wings extended from my back.

They looked nothing like the black and grey wings I summoned the dau Reina died nor were they the usual white.

Their brilliance, faded compared to my current enemy's, was still bright enough to illuminate my side of the city and gentle enough to make one wish to bathe in it.

Strangely enough, the name of my enemy came naturally to me... As naturally as I was speaking my own name.

"ACCELERATOR! YOUR ENEMY IS ME!"

With that, I rushed forward to meet my opponent.

* * *

"Hey..."

The brown haired boy who just had a large rod removed from his torso grinned sheepishly.

In all honesty, I wasn't mad at him... Though I say this with the most intimidating glare I can put up so it may or may not defeat the purpose of that thought.

What I was angry about was the pink haired girl lying on his chest and hugging him like a pillow.

"How the hell is she here?!"

"I have no idea!"

"Seriously?! And when did she appear?!"

"She never left!"

I pulled at my hair, almost dropping the cupcakes I made for him... My cheeks once again betrayed me and turned red upon remembering the hard work I had put in through the night to make those cupcakes.

It seems like my practice on the bus here was absolutely useless.

"A-a-nyway, why the hell can she stay here?!"

"Apparently she's my sister?"

"So?! That doesn't mean she can... Wait..."

A nod from the bedridden. "Mmhmm."

"Sister?!"

 _-Somewhere-_

"Aleister."

"What?"

"Hurry up dammit. Those credentials have to be simultaneously edited within a time span of half a second or the system will register an anomaly."

"..."

"It's your fault for bringing Accelerator in and failing to get him out. And that's no adding that the Endymion fell. We owe the girl whose siblings died for our mistakes so hurry up and get the stuff prepared."

"Fine..."

 _-Back to a certain hospital-_

"Why and how?!"

Haimura shrugged before frantically trying to wake his 'sister'. What the hell did those two do to get so close... Don't tell me.

"Where, why, when, how did you meet and what happened after."

"Ahh..."

The pink sleeper cracked open an eye. "Uuuuuuuuuuuuuu... Yuriko..? Shhhh..." And went back to sleep.

The gall of this girl... I lifted my arm, prepared to use my ability to give her a good hard 'tap' on the head... And my hand went down with no more force than normal, nowhere near enough to wake a snoring brute like her.

'Oh yeah...' I reminded myself. 'My ability is gone...'

Haimura raised an eyebrow. "Yuriko? You alright?"

Realizing that my expression had changed to a frown, I forced a smile back on and took the seat beside Haimura's bed.

"Yeah, I'm fine."

He seemed to have a rough understanding but knew I didn't want to speak about my situation.

After I rushed in to fight Accelerator on my own, I immediately knew that I would lose. Yes I had my ability but compared to him, it was completely useless.

From the moment I came within a meter of him, the true nature of his ability was undisputedly clear. It was the same as mine - Vector Change. It explained why no one else, be it Dark Matter or Haimura's new companion could do anything to him and why he had so much destructive power.

But all that wasn't important. What happened when he was done toying with me and decided to get serious was.

The moment he used his own ability to nullify mine, due to us having what he called the same 'Personal Reality', red lines spiderwebbed out from the Endymion and seemed to grasp Accelerator's feet.

It was then that I was transported to a completely dark world where I couldn't tell up from down, left from right or even where was the floor.

Only Accelerator 'stood' opposite me, not even surprised by this development.

"Ah... Aleister's prepared the summoning. I guess I'm out of time."

"Out of time?" I say. What the hell? He was wasting so much time that he didn't even fulfil his mission?

Grinning at my bewildered expression, he cackled. "Not really. I did what I was called for but I didn't play with you enough..."

A proud, fatherly look came over him.

"Though I can see that you now understand what it means to protect."

I stared at him wide-eyed, unsure of what to say or even think. One moment he was like a demon, destroying all that was dear to me and the next, he was complimenting me? Or was he complimenting himself...

His body radiated white light that slowly turned pink and then red, the colour of blood.

Confusion took over. What was happening?! I can't deal with this!

"Hah! You still don't get it?" He shook his head. "Well, I'm being a hypocrite here too. I never understood what i wanted and never realised that it was just beside me until it was ripped from my grasp so I can't blame you. We're the same after all."

My brain shut down.

We're... The... Same...?

The red glow completely enveloped the boy whose name I knew despite never seeing before.

"Accelerator... Is that your name?" I asked.

"Yes," he confirmed with that sadistic grin returning. "Suzushina Yuriko."

"How the hell do you know me?!"

"I told ya! We're the same!" I could tell that his voice was getting more distorted from whatever was happening but he somehow managed to do something to make sure that I could hear him clearly. "Just... From a different world... I hope yo-"

And with that, he disappeared for good, sentence unfinished. However, his voice seemed to echo in my mind, his unfinished sentence, complete.

"I hope you don't mind what I did."

Then the darkness enveloped me.

After I came to, I heard the familiar flutter of dragonfly wings beating along with the steady rhythm of helicopter propellors. Haimura's companion which he called Akemi was doing all she could to help stem his blood loss but it was obvious that she was completely overexerted. Blood flowed from her mouth and nose as she struggled to save Haimura from death by blood loss.

"Hey Yuriko... Take a seat or something." Haimura interrupted my thoughts. My eyes widened in embarrassment.

YURIKO! I said to myself, slapping my cheeks to remind myself why I was here.

"Never mind that." I pushed the paper bag in my hands to him. "I hope you like it..."

He raised an eyebrow.

"Ooooohh? What's this?" He grinned coyly.

The tone of his voice even got the pink haired bear off her napping position on his chest.

"Uuuuuuuuuuuuuu... Yuriko brought you that?" Akemi mumbled, already moving off Haimura's chest and preparing to help him shift his bed to moving position.

"Mmhmm."

The two of them seemed perfectly synchronized. Without even speaking, Akemi knew where and how to move. A small part of me felt a little bit of jealousy. It was as if he didn't want me anymore now that he had a prettier, more able-bodied girl attending to him.

Haimura extracted the lunchbox from the paper bag. "Ooooohh cake. You made this Yuriko?"

I nodded. "Yeah... Hope you like it..."

He pried open the container and moved it towards his mouth. Each second was tense. I awaited final judgement at the gates of hell, knowing that my baking was most likely horrible and yet wishing that he would like it.

Only to have Akemi jump forward and devour the entire piece in one go.

"Ehhhh?!"

"Akemi?!"

I saw red. How that that woman steal the...

Her face contorted in pain.

Cake that I made for...

She turned purple.

Haimura...

Said pink haired girl collapsed on the spot.

* * *

"So... They let you out huh..."

"Mm... They never expected Akemi to be the next one admitted. An extremely bad case of food poisoning was the cause they said."

Haimura and I sat on a bus back to my house. As usual, he followed me just to see me home. It was slower to take a bus back than train from the hospital but we wanted some extra time alone.

The rickety bus was empty apart from the two of us and nowhere as smooth as the armoured transport I sat on with the evacuees from Osaka but it may just be me having some trauma.

My hand was firmly clasped in his hand. At this point, my heart was close to leaping out of my chest with every beat. Only the noise of the engine as well as the old dirty smell of the seats kept me from getting all cozy with him.

"Are you sure it's alright for you to leave? You lost a lot of blood back there."

He nodded, rested his chin on my head and sighed contentedly.

"Akemi did a good job of healing me. All the doctors had to do was to remove the damn thing. Even after they did, Akemi burst through the doors and healed me again so after two days, I was already completely healed."

Hmm... I guess that irritant of a girl had some use.

We sat in silence for a while, just enjoying being in touch with each other. The rickety bus shook along the potholed roads. Air-conditioning was down so the cool night air trailed in from a few holes in the windows.

After Accelerator had left, there was still the problem of the falling Endymion which I will get to in a moment. The following moments were all about getting Haimura to a hospital and returning to war-torn Tokyo.

While majority of the residents in the cities had survived, an amazing 93% had actually made it to the underground bunkers in Tokyo according to Dark Matter, there were still many, many deaths and missing.

Almost the entire city had joined together to bolster rescue efforts. It's a good thing we Japanese are so used to and prepared for earthquakes. The impacts from small meteors barely shook some well-built structures and barely any fully collapsed.

Then again, it may have been because none of the massive kaiju sized ones that we fought against (I actually only saw their remains. Dark Matter had them killed before I even arrived) in Academy City landed here. Yuuitsu kept the strongest by her side.

Currently, the City bustled with repair works and emergency responders but all in all, was pretty safe. No one had to worry about transparent killers or falling rock.

A hand caressed my cheek, wiping off a tear I never noticed.

"Yuriko?"

That boy was perceptive as always. Even in his sloppy attire of a stained tee and half torn three quarter pants, he still managed to look decent enough with his messy hair and rough brown eyes.

"I'm fine." I squeaked out.

Sighing, he hugged my head and pulled me down onto his lap. "You know you can tell me right?"

My cheeks were bright red but my emotions had no idea what to do. On one hand, I wanted to just be content with Haimura while the other juggled guilt and confusion from what Accelerator said to me.

'I hope you don't mind what I did.'

Well, I actually found out what that meant mere minutes after he uttered those words. Using his ability, he had somehow nullified mine. Even Dark Matter himself had said that all trace of the Vector Change ability was gone along with his disappearance.

And to be honest, I didn't really mind. I was back to being the norm high school girl with legs made of Dark Matter and a brain damaged by a car accident which left me with weak lower body motor control.

[A.N. YES! I KNOW I CHANGED THINGS UP FROM PAST CHAPS. Yuriko was supposed to have broken legs, damaged spine and memory but I figured it was wayyyy to much so I changed it to that. I'll fix the past chaps when I'm through with this story. SORRY! I BEG FOR FORGIVENESS]

The words that left me lost however, was when he said 'We're the same.'

IN WHAT WAY WERE WE THE SAME DAMNIT!? He killed without remorse and nearly killed me AND Haimura. What if Akemi wasn't there to heal him? What then? Would he have died just because I was... Use-

Warm lips lowered themselves on my forehead. My inner tantrum abated by the sudden contact struggled to keep up. Like a computer overheating from overload, I broke down.

"Eh? Haimu-"

A pair of fingers crossed over my lips to silence me. They were strong, commanding in a sense. Oddly calming and yet managing to invoke embarrassment.

"Shhhh. Calm down. No one blames you and no one should. You did your best and that's all there is to it."

His words made my heart skip a beat.

"Of course, there were things that could have gone better. Many things. But we aren't machines. We don't do things perfectly or rationally because there is a factor called the 'Human factor'. It is what makes us 'us'. If I had to say anything, I'd say you did better as a human than a machine would do as a machine."

Even as he spoke, his lips were still pressed onto my forehead. I could feel his every word both physically and spiritually.

The bus sped past yet another half destroyed bus stop and bounced over a pothole. Streetlights barely illuminated anything and all I could see was Haimura's cheek.

But even with his positive words, doubt still plagued my mind. "But I could have done better. I could have saved so many..."

"Who was there to save?"

"Huh?"

"Who was there to save?!"

He lifted his head and adjusted himself so we saw eye to eye.

"I heard from Akemi that you saved everyone on the plane when it crashed in Osaka during the initial Element attack. Who said you didn't save anyone? You guided them to commander Maho and her team and from there, joined her convoy towards Academy City where you saved countless more when you battled Yuuitsu.

I watched you as you fought your inner demons while still facing Accelerator, protecting Dark Matter who was struggling to keep the Endymion standing, Akemi who was depleted of energy, and all the others who tried to help protect the City.

Who says you didn't do good. You did far better than what anyone else could so don't beat yourself up about it!"

Haimura's voice had already grown into a shout. Thankfully, the bus's noisy engine drowned out his voice so the driver never heard a thing.

His eyes sparkled with his earnest feelings. My eyes however, shimmered for a different reason. Tears tricked out. Though it has already been a while, I still hadn't let go.

"But Onee-chan... She didn't hesitate like me-"

My vision turned sideways. A hot red sting lit up my cheek. More tears squeezed out.

Did he just... Slap me?

I stared at him, eyes red with fury and met only tears.

Two warm droplets.

"Yuriko... Why do you still..." He shut his eyes to keep anymore tears from flowing. "Hate yourself so..."

I pulled myself back into an upright position.

The two of us sat side by side, never making a sound. Though we purposely took the bus to extend the amount of time we could spend together, it seemed to be back firing.

Mulling over his words, I simply couldn't understand why he said those comforting words. Yes we are friends that may have gone a little further but even then, friends are something you keep a certain distance away right?

Past trauma of my ex-classmates ditching me when I got disabled made me forget how deeply my relationship with Haimura went.

"Hey..."

"What." He mumbled back coldly.

His feelings are hurt, I thought. He never speaks this coldly to anyone.

"Are you angry?"

His reply was almost instantaneous.

"Yes."

Sweat dripped down from my forehead. My old self depreciating thoughts were gone, replaced with only panic now that Haimura was actually angry for the first time since I met him.

Has he been holding back all his feelings till now? What did I do to cause this...

I racked my brain for a suitable reply before he slammed a fist on a button to alert the bus driver that our stop had arrived.

Smooth as ever, he grasped me by the wrist gently and pulled me to him, catching my crutch with his free hand which he used to support himself by locking it along a railing. We quickly made our way along the moving bus and arrived at the door the very second it came to a stop.

He tapped both our bus cards before helping me get stable on the uneven ground.

We made our way into the park nearby my home. Most of the street lights were non-operational so makeshift lamps hung from wires on tree branches lit the way.

If it weren't for the cold atmosphere, one could call this scene romantic.

"Haimura..."

A grunt.

"What did I do?"

My voice was small, like a mouse. Why was I intimidated? I will never know but I do know that this was my doing.

And since he's done so much to help me, I have to do what I can to make it up to him.

"Do you know why I decided to be your friend?" Haimura asked.

The question caught me off guard but I knew the answer... Or did I?

Now that I think of it, the only reason I knew was that Tsukuyomi sensei had told him to guide me around the school and along the way, we became friends.

"You... Tsukuyomi sensei asked you to?"

"No."

I cocked my head, waiting for the answer.

"It's because I found you pretty."

~~~~~~~~~~Akemi~~~~~~~~~

My eyes cracked open.

It was a dark room with a large window. I was lying in a ward apparently. Haimura and Yuriko were nowhere in sight but another familiar figure stood nearby, looking out into the distance.

The city's lights reflected off her shiny black armor. Glowing yellow highlights along the massive pole with an entire sword attached onto the tip flashed dangerously like a warning.

A symbol bearing a cloud glowed with a speck of red and green but remained at least 90% yellow.

"Three?"

My sister nodded. She took five steps towards me. Her armor evaporating like mist with each movement till only her underclothes were left.

"How are you feeling Two?"

A grin lit up my face. Now with confirmation that she was my sister, any and all reservations were gone.

My movements were lithe. Thanks to my ability to control water, healing myself was second nature and could be completed in an instant. Anything from broken bones to third degree burns could be easily healed, what was food poisoning?

I reached up to Three and embraced her in a hug only to find myself covered with a thick warm liquid.

Just feeling the moisture on my clothes awakened my other senses, the scent of iron was immediately clear. If that wasn't enough to give away the identity of the liquid the smell combined with the temperature and consistency was a dead giveaway.

Blood.

"Three?! Why are you covered in blood?! Is it yours?!"

Three only stood mutely, unresponsive to my shaking. It was only after a few more minutes that the hair hanging over her face, parted to reveal gaunt eyes and a regretful smile.

"Self punishment." She muttered.

My emotions flared, armor forming around my legs and back. A nodachi sword materializing on my waist.

"What the hell?!"

Why would she do this to herself?

The core that replaced my heart glowed bright blue as I used my ability to heal her. The deep gash on her shoulder closing up in seconds.

"I..."

I stayed silent, not wanting to interrupt her explaination.

"... Made a mistake and almost killed an ally." She sniffed. "I even left him to bleed to death thinking he was working for Yuuitsu."

The immense guilt coming off her was more than enough to make me feel bad as well.

"What's so bad about that?" I ask.

She sighed. "It was Four's companion. He had stayed behind as support and... I dealt with him."

"Again, what's so bad with..." My brows furrowed. Three was one of those people who had no qualms with dealing a lot of damage to herself. Especially if she felt bad. My eyes widened. "Did you seriously..."

Three nodded.

If she meant what she acknowledged... That meant she used blood loss as a method of killing and had used it on herself now that she realized her target was a friendly.

That was just wrong.

"Don't do that kind of shit!" I slapped her.

It was a first for us. The weaker younger sister slapping the stronger older sister. What it did though, was make her wake up.

"You don't have to let your mistakes control you."

I spoke from experience, my time with Haimura flashing before my eyes.

He knew I was using him. I knew too. But all he did was smile and accept me. Even promise me that he'd help me beat Yuuitsu.

"There are good people in this world. Don't kill yourself because you made one mistake."

I tapped into the memories shared amongst all of us siblings. I saw One and Four and all the people they brought with them who came willingly to help fight Yuuitsu.

The people One brought, Yuriko and the commander, they were good people. They cared for each other.

Four's however, was hell-bent on revenge. He seemed nice but even that emotionless brick could sense that he was broken inside.

"Those people were good, nice people. Go to them and make up for what you did instead of killing."

I relinquished my armor knowing all was well... More or less... All I had to do was make sure she didn't do the same thing to herself agai-

Her core glowed, armor returning, the window shattered into a million pieces and a strong wind billowed.

"So all I have to do is make it up to them?"

I nodded.

Three melted into the wind, becoming just three yellow lines that carried her off into the distance.

Smiling to myself, I said a small prayer that she'd be fine. Then I turned my eyes to the horizon.

In the past, a truly gigantic structure towered over the world. A monolith to symbolize humanity's determination.

Space elevator Endymion.

Only the fading horizon was left now. The elevator itself was floating around somewhere in space.

* * *

~~~~~~~~~~~~Yuriko~~~~~~~~~~~

I stared at him in disbelief. What did he mean by that? Was that a compliment? An insult? What did he mean?

Sure enough, my blank look told him all he needed.

"I was interested in you because you were pretty. You just looked attractive."

His words rang clear in my head.

The inner demon in me began to grow. A weird sense of anger, betrayal and disappointment welled up within me.

Did he mean that he had no interest in me other than my looks? And now, realising my true nature did he decided to leave when i had already... Fallen for... Him.

I... Loved him?

The sudden realisation drew tears to my eyes.

Did I only realise this now? Now?! Only when he was about to leave me did I notice? How dumb could I be?

"But," he continued, closing the distance between us. "When I got to know you, I fell in love with you.

Your strength to show no weakness even when you hurt unbearably. Your dedication. Your stubbornness. The way you love and care for your siblings."

He grasped my shoulders and pulled me roughly into an embrace. I felt his unsteady breaths on my hair, the way his chest moved with each intake of air.

My mind however, was blank. All my previous thoughts were thrown out the metaphorical window. I didn't know what to think!

"Yes, I was interested in you because how you looked. I know that sounds superficial and it is!"

I understood his words and what he meant.

It was the same for me as well.

I didn't mind hanging out with him at first because he looked decent. A clean guy, neither too good nor bad looking.

But I now love him because of...

"But I did not fall in love with you for no reason. I love you because you are you~?!"

I took the initiative, ignoring the burning in my cheeks.

With that final sentence, my previous fears were eradicated. My mind was clear.

In this moment, I laid my feelings out. Completely. I knew that this was the most vulnerable I have ever been.

And he responded to them.

His arms wrapped around me and pulled me closer. The cold night air was replaced by a rosy warmth that filled every part of my being. For all our previous kisses, I was either emotionally down or lost and hence had trouble understanding my own feelings.

So this is the happiness that people speak of.

After a moment, we seperated for air.

"I love you Yuriko."

"I do too."

His eyes widened from my confession.

"You're being honest?"

A shit eating grin was plastered on his face. He knew he had me. His joy was literally seeping out of him.

And to be honest, so was mine.

"Yeah ❤"

~~~~~~~~~~~Mikoto~~~~~~~~~~~~

"What's taking Yuri-nee so long? Manami complains as she stares at the time." Last Order complained for thirty seventh time.

Though it was annoying, just hearing her cheerful voice was enough to remind me of how close I was to death just a few days ago. Not just I of course. Last Order and Misaka's lives too were on the line.

"Last Order. Shhhh." My twin tapped my youngest sisters' nose. "Yuri-nee-chan should be on her back with that guy before long according to her messages."

We shared a glance before returning to our respective jobs of cleaning the house and repairing damaged furniture.

The Elements had caused a huge amount of damage to the entire country. We were one of the lucky ones whose house wasn't even struck by one. Both our neighbours had half their houses flattened by falling Elements.

Many lessons were learnt that day.

From simple ones like not taking peace for granted and how important family was to thinking on the spot to save your own life.

I furrowed my brow just thinking about how close everyone I knew and loved had a good chance of dying.

In a way, its all thanks to that 'Three', I thought, she was the one who told us to prepare for a major role and sure enough , our time came. I still remember gaping at an entire space elevator tilt towards our tiny destroyer.

Three had warned us about it but Misaka was the one who took charge and told me to fire at the damn thing.

Good thing I did since the impact from the railgun did its job in pushing the Endymion away from us and allowed some other things like white beetles and amazingly powerful gusts of wind to push the monument out of the Earth's atmosphere.

Thinking about it that way, Misaka could actually be credited with saving half the planet.

The doorbell rang.

Last Order squealed in joy, running forwards and nearly tearing the door off its hinges.

"Last Order!" My heart skipped a beat upon hearing the familiar growl of complaint. "You're going to tear the damn door off."

"Yuri-nee!"

My sister was home.

Took her long enough.

"Oh? Is Yuriko home?" Our mom called from the kitchen.

Misaka did the honors of replying.

"Yes."

"Did she bring a guest?"

Guest?

Misaka and I glanced at each other in confusion. We didn't hear anyone other than Yuriko.

I peeked around the corner to catch a glance of my elder sister.

She was alone, Last Order clinging happily on her arm and... Nothing?

Didn't that guy send her home?

"Yuri-nee? Is there anyone else there?" I ask.

She smiled. "Nope he just left after dropping me off."

Whew.

~~~~~~~~~~~~Maho~~~~~~~~~~~~

"So you're the one who sliced open my shoulder?" Iwao mumbled, trying to hide his grin.

The young woman in front of him bowed, her body forming an almost perfect 90° angle.

"Hai."

She seems very apologetic, I noted. Of course, as apologetic as she can be, not everyone can truly apologize for stabbing someone so badly... Not that he seems to mind.

He referring to Iwao of course.

Victim of said stabbing rubbed the area over his healed up wound. In addition to having an impromptu blood donation from me, he had been taken to a nearby aircraft carrier for emergency medical aid and then to a hospital where some girl with pink hair had almost magically healed him.

It was an apology for her sister's misunderstanding she said.

Having his life on the line like that had also helped with his sense of guilt over Reina.

Though it was more about Yuuitsu being so effectively destroyed that nothing remained.

I choked back a giggle when at the woman's reaction when he grabbed her head and pulled her into a hug.

He could be so forgiving as long as you don't hurt anyone he loved.

Three's expression was torn between an amusing mix of surprise, confusion and relief at his reaction.

"Uhhh... Why are you doing this... Are you not angry?"

Iwao released her from his grasp. "Not really. You had your fair share of troubles from Yuuitsu as well right?"

He pulled off his shirt to reveal his well-toned body as well as many of his old burn scars but more importantly, the new pinkish skin around the area Three had sliced him.

"Your sister was the one who healed me and put in a good word for you. It wouldn't be nice to hold a grudge right?"

Upon hearing about her sister, Three fell into an even deeper bow. Several tears hit the ground, wetting the wooden floor of my home.

Padded footsteps warned me about my mother's arrival.

More than half our house was destroyed along with an assortment of vehicles. To be exact, only a quarter of my family's residence was currently in use. The rest was under reconstruction. It was no surprise that my mom could hear our entire conversation.

"I am grateful for your forgiveness but is there any way I can rep-"

My mother's cold, calculating voice came from behind. "We are in need of mechanics. Iwao will teach you the basics. Work starts tomorrow."

Iwao sent a grateful glance her way which she accepted with grace. It seems that even she was affected by the loss of Reina and the invasion of the Elements.

Speaking of Elements... My eyes wandered back to Three but sympathy rushed into my heart.

Three only had the stench of regret hanging off her but she is still what people would call a nice lady. I guess we'll start by rebuilding her confidence like Reina and I did with Iwao.

Hopefully, this would be the start of a new life. One where Iwao can finally let go of Reina and become whole again.

Well. He's already healed quite a bit.

* * *

A.N.

Once again, Like Three, I bow in regret and apology. This chapter has not only been sitting on my com for almost 3 weeks but hadn't been edited. (It took a long time to edit. Ended up deleting the ending part and rewriting it in a more simple story flow.)

Hopefully you like it and immediately behind this is my first OVA of sorts. A one-shot into the future which i promised sooooo many months ago. Hope you like it.

Well, then. Time to start preparations for the next part of our story, recuperation, reconstruction and... A festival? (P.S. Its actually in-progress)

Hopefully I won't be as slow for the next one...


	25. One shot (Lemon)

One Shot-1 (Lemon)

Haimura X Yuriko

* * *

A short girl with long brown hair coming to her waist ran up the stairs to the small apartment she called home.

She wore a much too large raincoat over her sailor's uniform and bag. Her shoes were kept neatly in her bag as she moved about skillfully, avoiding all the dangers which could befall her bare feet. A nail or discarded stapler could spell disaster and a world of pain both physically and mentally.

Her mother had this penchant for nagging.

The strong winds sent raindrops into all directions, turning the smooth tiled floor into something not unlike an ice skating rink. The girl, not one to lose out on such an opportunity, used it to her advantage and 'skated' in the broadest sense of the word to her doorstep, the second last along the corridor.

Being caught out in the rain, she decided not to risk taking her raincoat off to retrieve the key nestled safely in a certain compartment and resorted to slamming her fist on the plain hand-made wooden door.

Even after a whole minute of knocking however, there was no reply.

Considering the chances of her mom not being home were low., especially in this rain, she guessed that the thin metal roofing must be very noisy. Noisy enough to mute the sound of her knocking.

Eyeing the neighbouring door, the final door along the corridor, the girl shrugged before strolling over and giving it a few nice hard knocks.

Unlike her home, this door was the conventional thin low quality wooden door. As a result, knocking became much louder for the inhabitants.

Cracks in the nearby walls allowed small plants to grow alongside the potted plants placed artistically in all the free spaces. Said plants were enjoying the heavy downpour. A few chains came down from the ceiling, holding snail shells which in turn contained minute amounts of soil and a small plant.

Just as the girl was about to sulk, the door swung open to reveal a young woman in her mid-twenties holding a knife long enough to be considered a sword and an apron covered with blood. A strong fishy smell came from her soaked clothes.

Coming in at around 1.6 meters, it would have been easy for her to blend in with most people if not for her appearance. Large blue eyes and pink hair made her stand out from the masses. Her fashion sense too. She was simply incapable of choosing matching clothes and wore whatever was on hand. Currently, a green turquoise apron covered some mismatched red and orange clothes.

Her eyes brightened when she saw the familiar face. "Aunt Akemi!"

"Oh hey Fumie-chan! Come in, come in. Is Yuriko not home?"

The younger of the pair shook her head.

"She can't hear my knocking... The rain's too loud."

She breathed a sigh of relief.

Aunt Akemi was her father's sister... even though they look completely unlike each other. It was great luck that she wasn't left stranded outside the homes of both her family.

While Fumie's father was a rather quiet man who made music arrangements for bands, her aunt was a rowdy sushi chef who ran a store not far from their apartment. The police had even dropped by a couple of times to warn her about using a katana to slice her sushi though a bottle of sake and some fresh sashimi usually shut them up.

With nothing more than a wave, Akemi gestured for the girl to come in, all the while slicing the air with her blade. If not for being in close contact with her for years, the brunette would never venture near the pink-haired sword-wielding maniac.

"What are you making today Auntie?" Fumie asked the elder lady who proceeded to stab her knife forcefully into a reddish fish and severing it's head in one clean cut.

"Akamutsu sashimi. Want some?"

"Mm!"

* * *

"Ahhh that was good... what did you do in school today Fumie-chaaaaan?" Akemi asked while sipping from a can of beer.

Fumie gobbled down the last few slices of fish, burped, took a sip of cider and joined her aunt on the sofa.

"Nothing much apart from a boring P.E. class since it was raini-Oh yeah!" Her eyes lit up from remembrance. "Aunt Akemi! Do you know what is 'sex'?"

Beer sprayed out into the air in a fountain of yellow..

"Wha? Sex?! Where did you hear that from?!" Her aunt managed between coughs. Akemi's face was bright red from both choking and embarrassment.

Unbeknownst to her niece, Aunt Akemi was only in her late-twenties. An age where she said she 'was only just beginning to learning about romance' and much less on the stuff that happens after.

"I heard some of my classmates talking about seeing her parents doing it." Fumie answered innocently.

What the hell is wrong with this girl... did she inherit her father's denseness? She isn't even fazed. Akemi thought.

'Then again, she could just be unclear on what the word means.' The aunt mumbled under her breath.

"Ahhh Fumie-chan... Do you know what 'sex' means?"

The younger of the two shook her head vigourously.

'I KNEW IT!' Akemi cheered inwardly.

"So uh... What do ya wanna ask about it?" Pink hair asked. "You can ask your best aunt anything."

"Have you have sex before?"

A squeal loud enough to rouse a certain white haired mother from her nap through the noisy rain erupted from the apartment.

* * *

"What was your aunt Akemi screaming about Fumie?"

Fumie's mother skillfully manipulated the cloth in her hand to spread wide and cover her daughter's head.

Said daughter silently admired her mom's skill in doing everything from drying her currently wet hair to cooking with just one hand.

Kano Fumie's mother Yuriko had received cranial damage in an accident during her youth and needed a crutch to help her walk, severely limiting her mobility.

"Umm..." Fresh from her bath, even she had trouble remembering what all the fuss earlier was about.

Upon hearing her sister-in-law's scream of surprise, embarrassment and frustration, the white lady had gone next door to check on her neighbour only to find Fumie consoling a sobbing drama queen.

Fumie's eyes lit up in remembrance for the second time that day. "At yeah! I asked aunt Akemi but she only screaming in sadness but do you know what 'sex' is okaa-san?".

A wildfire literally burned in the mother's cheeks. Her mind went back to her first time with her husband.

* * *

It was some time after Haimura finally managed to get a better apartment in a better neighbourhood and got his then girlfriend Yuriko to move in to her parent's joy... and her sisters' unbridled rage.

A party was held in said apartment. A small party to be exact. Only five people were gathered in the four roomed space he now called home.

Kano Haimura had worked hard and saved for three entire years to finally own (not rent mind you) a place he could call his home. (Though he was technically still paying for it in installments.)

Why was he so determined to do so? It had something to do with his pride. The twenty-two year old had completely objected the idea of proposing to his beloved until he owned a home of his own despite her parents not minding and his friends pushing him to hurry up.

Sure enough, he had proposed halfway through the party much to the joy of his three old classmates and the annoyance of his step-sister.

After everyone else had left, including his sister who had bought the flat right next door since she had quite a sum saved up thanks to freeloading off her brother for the past five years, Yuriko lay beside her soon-to-be husband on a cheap futon.

"You really did it huh." She mumbled with a smile plastered on her face.

She had waited for four long years for the moment she could live with him. While Haimura has gotten an uncertain job as a piano teacher, Yuriko had only just graduated from university and was currently unemployed. Thus, their financial situation was far from desirable.

Nevertheless, this was a dream come true for them and simply being able to lie next to each other after three years of squeezing in dates and meet ups amidst work and study.

Haimura kissed her forehead, drawing an embarrassed slap and a nuzzle in return. "Mmhmm. I had the motivation."

Small kisses grew into makeout sessions. Hands adventured into previously restricted areas. Deep breaths and gentle moans escaped from Yuriko's lips.

A finger trailed down her belly to her skirt, hesitating for a moment as if to ask for permission. Yuriko noticed this and nodded in response, giving it access to everything down below.

"Uuuuuu... This feels weird..." She mumbled as Haimura's fingers uncertainly rubbed her.

He stopped his motions. "Does it feel bad?" Due to inexperience, everything Haimura knew about making a girl feel good was from his friends Touma (unsafe source), Tsuchimikado (another unsafe source) and the internet (yet another unsafe source).

"N-n-no..." Yuriko swallowed her pride and hugged the boy tighter. The sudden loss of stimulation made her feel so deprived it almost making her explode in embarrassment. "It feels way better than when I touch myself..."

Taking the compliment to heart, Haimura smiled before closing the distance between their lips and rubbing faster than before. Large amounts of clear liquid soaked through her panties.

Eyes squeezed shut, Yuriko begrudgingly gave in to the pleasure of an orgasm, panting desperately for air. Sweat lined her brow.

Haimura quickly withdrew his hand from the now damp skirt to adjust his pants. It was quickly becoming way too tight down there. A small beam of light poured in from the window, illuminating his lover's tires expression, flushed cheeks and droopy eyes.

Unsure of what to do next, he lay down next to Yuriko to rest. Though his own desire was trying to get the better of him, the gentleman within stood strong. He knew that Yuriko was just as unsure of these things and was confident that she would not like it if he forced himself on her.

Then he felt something different. A small gentle hand lay on his crotch, not knowing what to do.

"Yuriko?"

"I... can't... feel good alone..." The white haired lady whispered. "I should... you've been holding back too haven't you?"

Slender fingers released his zipper and unbuttoned his pants before he even knew what was going on.

A blur of motion ensued and while his mind was still processing Yuriko's sudden boldness, she had already wrapped a hand around him... and that was it. She had no idea what to do at that point.

"Err... A little help? What do I do here?"

That awkward moment was what jolted Haimura's sense back on track. Laughing at Yuriko, he hugged her tightly.

A part of him wanted to tell her to give him a handjob or even a blowjob like in the manga's he read but he knew better than to make use of his completely inexperienced partner.

"You don't have to do anything special Yuri."

"Huh? Since when did you use that nickname?"

An awkward silence came upon the pair before they burst into laughter.

"That was so weird!" Yuriko managed between laughs. "Was that some kind of attempt to give me a pet-name or something?"

A small kiss planted itself on her forehead. "Kind of? It was more of me trying to see how you'd react."

"Hiding your embarrassment I see."

"Is this payback for letting me see how flustered you looked after an orgasm?"

Someone saw red.

Someone else regretted his words.

Yuriko spun like a crocodile, climbing into her lover's larger chest in an attempt to strangle him. The spin was reciprocated with a spin from Haimura himself which led to an awkward wrestling match.

Fortunately, the room was devoid of furnishings this allowing them free access. Should the room be filled with tables and chairs, there would be no doubt that the couple would emerge bruised the next morning.

After much struggle on Haimura's part, Yuriko lay triumphant on his chest, hands wrapped tenderly around his neck.

"Haaaaaaa... You win Yuriko." He tapped out in surrender.

Yuriko grinned. Her hands released themselves from his neck only to clasp his hair. She rested her entire body his, pressing her small mounds onto him, causing a stir down below.

"We still have our shirts on ya know?" Haimura muttered in annoyance. As much as he was enjoying himself, the horny bastard within wanted more skin. It desired more contact.

His hand snaked under her t-shirt. Pausing occasionally and resuming when she nodded ever so slightly till they arrived on her right breast. Fingers spread open to fully embrace the incomparable softness.

"I'm sorry they're small..."

Haimura stopped his motions. "What are you referring to?"

It took a moment till Yuriko summoned the courage to mutter a quiet "Boobs."

He laughed, resuming his attack on Yuriko's privates. "It's fine Yuriko. I like them."

A tiny moan escaped from Yuriko's lips much to Haimura's satisfaction. Taking it as permission, his other hand moved to her snatch, rubbing lightly.

Yuriko's entire body trembled with pleasure. Then a thought ran through her clouded mine and by an amazing show of willpower, she caught herself just as she was about to give in to orgasm.

She bit her partner's ear. "You haven't been feeling good have you..."

Haimura froze.

"I've... been feeling good all alone..." She struggled to complete the sentence, her pride was getting in the way. "I want you... to feel good too."

They both knew that Yuriko would never say this to anyone else or at any other place.

Yuriko's cheeks were flushed from embarrassment.

A wave of emotion flowed through him. Seeing his conservative partner enjoying the pleasures of foreplay was one thing. Having her saying that she wanted to go all the way was another.

"Are you sure Yuriko?"

She nodded meekly.

Placing her gently on the futon, Haimura positioned himself over her, controlling the inner demon from being too aggressive.

"Should I go first?"

"Wait..."

They stayed motionless for a moment. Haimura knew that Yuriko was forcing through a mental barrier of her so he gave her time. He understood that she was fighting inner demons of her own. Demons that plagued her with guilt for enjoying herself which was far harder to overcome than the demon in him who wanted nothing more than to ravage the beautiful girl before him.

"Let me feel it..."

Her hand moved downwards, grasping tightly to get a feel of the size and shape. She wanted to get a feel of what was going to go inside her.

"Will it even fit?" She deadpanned.

Haimura burst out laughing.

It was so her to ask such a thing.

"Apparently so."

He waited for her reply.

Five seconds give or take passed before she suddenly pulled him to her entrance. Yuriko let go of his erect penis.

"Please be gentle..."

With the seriousness of a soldier, Haimura nodded resolutely and began his decent.

Her hands grasped his back tightly, long fingernails drawing blood.

"Uuuuuuu..."

"Does it hurt?"

Yuriko sounded almost contipated. "Very..."

How big is that fucking thing? She thought. It hurts way too much to be called enjoyable... Damn that Fukiyose saying it'd feel good.

His furrowed his brow in concern. A flurry of kisses were employed to try to reduce her stress.

"Lips..."

"Huh?"

"Kiss me..."

Their lips met. A wave of relief ran though Yuriko's body as if a painkiller was administered. Haimura on the other hand was caught completely off guard and unintentionally inserted himself deeper.

She melted into him and him into her. They truly became one for the first time in their lives. Yuriko reminisced the past, the years she spent with Haimura first as just another classmate to her first true friend and then to her unofficial boyfriend and finally, the day they made it official to their friends who already knew what was going on.

Meanwhile, Haimura was simply overjoyed with being connected to his wife both spiritually and physically to think about anything other than her... apart from being irritated as his sister who was sure to be trying to eavesdrop.

"Does it still hurt?"

"Mmhmm... but you can try moving a little." Yuriko nodded, taking deep breaths to reduce the pain.

He stroked her cheek gently, taking in all the contours of her face from the small bumps below her eyes to the pimple along her jaw.

"You don't have to force yourself."

She shook her head to calm him. "It's fine Haimura. I wanted this."

Their lips locked once again while Haimura made his first movements, pushing himself all the way in. He hesitated when he heard his partner choke back a cry of pain only to continue when he felt her lips curl into a smile.

Soon enough, after many more gentle thrusts, Yuriko's pain gradually faded into dull background noise.

"How do you feel?" Yuriko asked.

"Amazing."

"Great."

Thrust by thrust, the couple found a steady tempo. He ventured down to Yuriko's chest, pulling up her tee to get a better grasp.

Surprisingly for him, she complied and started working on unbuttoning his shirt. Within seconds, their clothes were strewn on the other side of the room.

Now skin touched skin. No offensive fabrics were between them. Their sweat mixed with each other's. Saliva dripped from their lips.

"Ahhh... It's gonna be a painting clean the futon isn't it?"

"It'll be... Fine... Ahhh... Shut up and kiss me you idiot." Yuriko smacked her forehead on his, ending the random conversation.

Haimura felt Yuriko tighter up around him. From Touma's advice, that probably meant that Yuriko was reaching climax. He felt his coming as well and began to move faster. Her small frame feeling even more fragile against his hard thrusts.

He seperated his lips from Yuriko's, desperately needing air.

Their eyes met.

"..."

"..."

Silent thoughts were conveyed.

He knew and she knew.

They wrapped their limbs around each other, closing any distance remaining between them.

She reached climax first, eyes widening. No scream came from her open maw, only a sharp intake of air.

Feeling her hit climax, Haimura did too, losing control and releasing himself into her.

He spun around, letting the smaller Yuriko rest on him.

"Warm."

"Mm?"

"Your... stuff..."

His eyes widened in realization.

"Oh! Haha... I hope you don't mind..."

"Nn..." She shook her head. "It feels good. And I don't mind if it's you." Yuriko rested her head on Haimura.

Haimura's heart melted like butter from her afterglow. He planted a kiss on a forehead. Her hair smelled great he noted.

"Love you."

...

No reply.

"Yuriko?"

She had already fallen asleep with her husband still inside her. Haimura blushed from the thought.

"Good night."

* * *

"Uhhhhhh..." The mother scratched her head, unable to bring herself to explain the act to her daughter. "I think your shameless father would explain it better."

"Awwww!"

Fumie pouted.

A trio of knocks sounded on the door.

"Oto-san?" Fumie almost tore the door off its hinges.

Yuriko grinned at the problem her husband would have to face within the next ten seconds.

"Yeah?" Haimura smiled at his daughter, forgetting the bag of cymbals he held and dropping them on his foot. "IEEE!"

"Oto-san." Fumie ignored her father who clutched his foot in pain as her sadistic mother giggled at the pathetic sight. "What does 'sex' mean?"

A pause.

Yuriko awaited an astonished response or even a scream like his sister made but none of those happened.

"It's when two people who love each other play around with their wee wees." Fumie's father rubbed her head nonchalantly. "Its something everyone... Not really everyone, but most people will do eventually."

* * *

A.N. My first lemon. My god was it tough to write XD

It was fun though. Most of my experience comes from reading hentai so I'm sorry if it was kinda dumb but... I tried XD

uhhhh If you're reading this update looking for the completed Chapter 23, its in the chapter before this. I'm sorry I am so late but... well... no excuse. I even lost a follower but that's just punishment for my lateness.

Hope you liked this and please let me know what you thought about it K?

Youjo senki is amazing btw


	26. Chapter 24

Chapter 24

* * *

I smiled at Yuriko disappearing into her home, the squeal of delight coming from her home and the other noises of excitement. No doubt her family is happy to see her.

My feet felt heavy in the cool air. Not sure of where to go. Home never really felt like home after all... And whether it still still stood was another question. I sighed again before trudging my way home. The railway station had already closed for the night.

The thin, bitter taste of cold air scratched incessantly at my nostrils. Distant lights were few and far apart. Small flakes of snow like those of that day fell to my feet.

Hopefully it won't get too cold.

Following the train's path so as to avoid getting lost, I eventually found myself facing my demolished apartment another hour after I left Yuriko. Oddly enough it was as if a part of me already knew that my home was destroyed like a weird sense of déjà vu. Instead of sadness or disappointment, my core only felt numbness.

All the memories I had as a child. Playing with Touma, Tsuchi, Fukiyose and Uomi. My grandpa. My piano. Everything I had that held me to this world was gone but I felt nothing.

I raised a hand to my lips. I could still feel Yuriko's softness. That meant I wasn't completely numb. Neither from the cold nor my emotions. What the hell is this feeling?

But I knew that everything left of my home was gone. My home, my identification, my official certificates.

More importantly, all traces of my family were gone.

My already pale face turned white. Blood seemed to drain from my body. The joy of getting closer to the girl of my dreams was being washed away by guilt and shame.

How could I have forgotten all about my own home? Where am I going to stay?

A stinging pain lit up sirens in my head.

I looked down at the offending source.

My knuckles were bleeding?

Slowly, I realised I had punched a half collapsed wall.

What am I doing?

I crouched down, clutching my empty head in my arms.

Come on Haimura, I thought, get yourself together. Find a place to stay or at least stay warm. The city is empty.

Survival instincts, honed from the not-so-few life threatening situations I had been caught in during the past months kicked in.

I slapped myself to try to focus. Tsuchimikado lived quite the distance away and Touma's home seemed to have been half collapsed so they're probably staying somewhere else for now. The bunkers would also most likely be full and getting a place in one would be a pain.

Many had been evacuated to the bunkers when the meteors fell after all. It wouldn't be a surprise if nearly 80% of the people whose homes had been destroyed were unscathed from the life-changing event.

With nowhere to go, I made my way to a half collapsed building which could be used as a shelter. The area looked clean enough. A large slab of concrete however, jutted out of nowhere and made the obsessive part of me slightly aggravated.

Without thinking, my arm straighted sideways.

"Slicing beam."

I waited.

Waited for the energy blade made from accelerated photons to appear.

But nothing.

No energy blade emerged like it used to just days ago.

Once again remembering that my powers were gone, I slumped down on a smooth slab. The cold permeated my not-so-thick clothes. Immediately, I started to shiver.

"Haaaa..."

Just days ago, I was the proud, though unskilled, owner of two powerful abilities; Slicing Beam and Blast Furnace. However, due to massive injuries that should have taken my life, a partner I made during the Element crisis had to channel her own life force and thus, her ability into me.

Now, the only thing I was capable of was being a normal person right after getting to know my power.

Maybe it was a good thing that I lost them so early. If I were more attached and dependant on them, I might be much more affected. Now, it was more of an inconvenience, a pet peeve, than a disappointment.

"It's cold." I mumbled, "and I still haven't done that song for Yuriko."

Shaky footsteps echoed in the distance but I paid them no mind. Voices, distorted, found their way to my ears unprocessed, my mind too tired to mind.

Wait a minute...

Ever since I left Yuriko... The walk... The cold.

Something in my mind clicked when a small snowflake fell onto my lap.

Did I just allow hypothermia to set in on myself?

Kano Haimura, you are an idiot.

The world slowly blurred, heavy eyelids struggled to stay open. The blurry voices became clearer but my mind's processing ability couldn't keep up.

Five figures eventually made their way to me. They seemed rather familiar. Two with spiky hair and another three with hoods covering their heads.

"Ah... ere he is..."

"I knew he'd..."

"... diot."

Two pairs of gentle hands wrapped jackets around me.

Then I blacked out.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Touma~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tsuchimikado stuffed a handful of prepackaged rice crackers into my arms.

"Oi, pass these to Fukiyose. Stop zoning out. I know you're hungry but seriously man."

A slap to the head woke me from my daze.

"Ahh... Yeah. Good luck bro."

The blonde with his signature sunglasses and unbuttoned Hawaiian shirt shot me a confident grin. "Don't worry about it. I have Master Maika."

I laughed. Only he could be proud of having a sister who was more capable in nearly every way than him while still relying on her for most of his needs.

Oh, and did I mention she was younger?

Still, I wasted no time and made my way to our little camp in the bunker. Hordes of people either in queues for food or tending to their designated living space filled the massive expanse.

Several noisy air vent supplied fresh but cold air to the bunker from the cool winter going on outside while harsh but dim lights were the only source of vision.

As one of nearly a thousand bunkers scattered around the islands of Japan designated for civilian use, around half a million people were cramped into the giant hangar that seemed capable of housing an aircraft carrier or two.

The gates to the city had opened up a day or two ago and many had left. Only to return when they found out that their homes were destroyed.

I scurried past a line of people and hopped over a crouching man. Skills learnt from managing with my misfortune.

Following air vents and lights like an old sailer watched the moon and stars, I made my way to the tiny four by four meter space I called home with Fukiyose, Tsuchimikado, his sister Maika and an old childhood friend, Uomi.

Not far from here was some friends from school, the student council chairwoman Madoka and her family, Yui and Ui from the neighbouring class and some others from various other grades.

I passed an old fellow, smelly. A young fellow, disgustingly slimy. Middle-aged woman, disgruntled.

Maybe it was just my inner stinge but did everyone not understand that of the two large bottles of water given out daily, one was to be used for sanitation? I could barely finish using both and even have a stockpile now.

Soon enough, I managed my way back to my base camp. Fukiyose, covered with a bunch of jackets, lay on Uomi's lap, coughing every second or so.

I fumble down, placing the food in a bag within arms reach. Seiri gave me a pained smile before doubling over in coughs. My heart felt pieced with every second she was suffering. The damp cloth on her forehead was warm.

Uomi gave me a small, reassuring smile. "Her fever seems to be slightly better in anything."

I sighed. "Thanks for visiting Uomi. Who knows how we'd get by without you."

My childhood friend was a strange person. Black hair tied into twin ponytails and half-lidded eyes often described as lazy eyes. Her personality could be described as detached but it would be more accurate to call her airheaded.

Extraordinarily blunt at times, mysterious at others. She had times, like these, where she was the glue holding our tiny group together and others, where she leaves for years at end without a word only to return.

"Its fine, Touma-kun. All of you are childhood friends..." She glanced sideways rather worriedly. "Though one of us is missing."

Only the buzz of countless conversations kept the awkward silence from becoming overwhelming.

I clenched my right fist while trying to maintain a smile for Uomi. "Yeah... He'll be fine."

Even with the bustle going on, the tension in the air was unbearable. We merely sat in an awkward silence, tending to Seiri.

She had fallen i just two days ago and with the bunker's doctors busy with life threatening diseases with high transmission rates, something like a fever was intentionally overlooked.

Thankfully, she and I had come to the bunker with Tsuchimimado and his sister Maika who just happened to have our old friend Uomi at his home. Apparently she had been looking for Kano-dono at his apartment and went to find him when the meteors came. Good thing she made it to Tsuchimikado's in time.

Not many survived the Invasion from what I heard.

Soon, our awkward silence was broken by Tsuchimikado plopping down beside me, releasing a sigh containing annoyance and relief. He dropped his load of water bottles on my lap.

"Maika's coming with some meds she got off a nice old lady. Good news for once eh?" He grinned at me before jumping up and massaging Uomi's shoulders.

Maika? Meds? In this kind if situation?

Her skills are unparalleled.

Uomi and Motoharu continued to joke for a while then something buzzed.

"Wait a moment... Gotta take this." The blonde pulled a phone from his pocket. A frown crossed his face when he read the contact but he answered anyway. "Tsuchimikado Motoharu here." He mumbled with a hand over his mouth.

How he still had reception, I have no idea. Uomi similarly gaped at Tsuchimikado.

We watched his eyebrows rise and fall.

A sharp voice filled with disdain shook us out of our awe. "Hmm? Onii-chan is flaunting that satellite phone again? Such a show off."

Maika, with a small box in her right hand and a clenched left fist appeared from behind me. Shaking her head at her brother, she tapped on Fukiyose's forehead.

"Open up!" Maika's authoritative voice commanded.

Two tablets fell between her lips before water gushed through. Fukiyose coughed and sputtered worryingly before returning to her dazed, half-conscious state.

"What did you give her?" I say nonchalantly. I trusted Maika. I have known her since Fukiyose and I were practically siblings and she had watched us when we turned into rivals and had celebrated for us when we finally went on our first proper date...

Something that Haimura may never get to experience.

Maika downed the remaining water in the bottle. "Paracetamol. A nice auntie had her brought her medicine bag along and was distributing some to those who really needed it."

"Lucky you could convince her Fukiyose needed some." Uomi laughed.

A question mark popped up over Maika's maid headband. "I never told her about Fukiyose."

"Then?"

"You don't need to know." The loli cosplay maid gave us her most convincing smile to prove her innocence.

It fully convinced us that she was a monster like her brother.

A large weight flopped onto my back.

My sixth sense told me it was Tsuchimikado. A loud sigh confirmed my thoughts and just as I was about to tell Uomi a joke to liven up the atmosphere,

"Haimura is here." The wannabe Hawaiian whispered. "Central Hospital. Yuri-chan too. Don't tell Uomi."

Eyes widened. I fought back the urge to shout. Haimura? He's fine? So is the hospital? And Yuriko too? That was more than just good news. Why is he so sullen though?

"How did yo-"

The blonde cut me off. "I have a little bird from GROUP. She's going to check on him but it seems like he has left the hospital."

"And how is that bad?"

"His house is gone."

Almost everyone's house is gone I thought insensitively... Until I remembered that our friend lived alone and his home was all that was left of his family.

"Shit."

"Yeah, shit. And with what seems to be a white Christmas coming in a week, it's gonna be one cold night in an empty city."

My brain put two and two together much slower than Tsuchimikado but I got the gist of it.

A boy, just released from a hospital, out in the freezing cold? That's not going to end well.

I grinned. I knew what Tsuchimikado was thinking and he knew I noticed judging from his chuckling.

"So how do we go about saving that idiots' ass?"

Wind blew pasty hair.

Vibrations threatened to tear my butt cheeks open.

Noisy rattling grated on my ears.

"How... The hell... Does finding Haimura, require a bloody TANK?!"

Tsuchimikado laughed along with his friend from GROUP, Musujime Awaki who fortunately enough, was on positive terms with me.

"Well, these are the best for moving on damaged roads and rough terrain. And its the only vehicle left anyway." The redhead scratched her head. "All the smaller ones were damaged."

I stared at the 40 ton beast I rode on.

The gun seemed to be damaged and there were more than a few scratches and dents in the armor. Weird noises frequently erupted from the caterpillar tracks below but thankfully, the engine sounded fine.

At least I won't have to worry about my ride blowing up.

Tsuchimikado laughed. "Don't worry too much about it! Worry about finding that oversensitive brother of ours."

Movement was painful to say the least. The girls had furnished the interior of the tank with cushions and even cup holders. All us boys had were a layer of cardboard and some newspapers. Each tiny bump in the ground sent signals up my butt telling me to get off.

Come on, I thought to myself as motivation. We just have to find Haimura.

I stared at the empty city.

Yes, it wasn't completely empty but most buildings were pitch black - something I have never seen in Tokyo in my life.

The stars shone brighter than ever. The normally lighted hue of the sky was pitch black.

Cold winds cancelled out most of the heat from my noisy transport as it traversed over potholes and sidewalks, crushing any opposing rocks or barriers.

"This may be a White Christmas." I say.

"Mm... It would be nice to have everyone alive though."

I raised an eyebrow. Instead of Tsuchimikado who I had direct my words to, it was Musujime who replied.

Her face was contorted into a mix of sadness, hope and regret. Small tears gathered at the edge of her red eyes. She soon noticed however, and wiped them before they could trickle down.

My mouth sealed itself shut. It wouldn't be wise to pry.

The redhead recovered quickly and shot me a forced grin. "Don't worry, we'll get your friend. I owe him one too."

Soon enough, we arrived at the train station near Haimura's house from here we could see the apartment complex... If it could be called one. Nothing more than rubble remained.

Tsuchimikado, Musujime, a girl with long black hair and a dolphin pillow covered with a jacket adorned with the words 'Bomber Lance' on its back, another simply dressed one with short brown hair in a brown and white hoodie also having word on the back. This one read 'Offense Armor' and I disembarked.

The two similarly dressed ones whipped out flashlights as the three of us searched for our mutual friend.

"Do you think he's here?"

"Well, its been nearly six hours plus minus since he left the hospital."

"Let's hope," Musujime rubbed her cold hands together. "He hasn't freezed or anything."

We laughed a little but it was empty. Tsuchimikado and I were desperate for our friend. Hunkering down in a bunker while knowing that one of our closest friends were somewhere out there as literal creatures of death prowled the streets was a horrifying thought.

The entire situation seemed a little nostalgic however, but instead of just cold, it was hotter than a desert and there was a water crisis...

Nah. Just my imagination.

The flashlights moved and scanned the ground professionally, sweeping over everything and anything.

Nothing over there... Other than some weird sand, concrete and wood.

I crouched down, running my left hand over the odd material. It felt more like glass than sand but lacked the cutting edge.

Thinking that it was just vaporised rock, I dusted my hand off with my free right hand.

Then something odd happened.

All the sand stuck to me broke apart, shattering into even tinier pieces and then into nothingness. As if they had been negated, broken almost.

Negated? Broken?

Since when did those words come to mind. They hardly described what happened.

Must have been some weird déjà vu from a dream I assured myself.

"There he is!" I heard one of the girls call out. It barely registered though.

Narrowing my eyes, I fought the odd feeling of being watched, the feeling of someone hoping that I remembered.

Remembered?

"Oi Touma!"

I shook myself from my daze, running over to the group.

"Ah... There he is."

"Mm... I knew he'd try to stake out nearby instead of searching for help."

"What an idiot."

The talking soon eliminated the nagging thoughts. If they didn't, the process of carrying Haimura up onto the tank did. Lugging dead weight up something as tall as a tank was torture.

Soon, we were off towards Tsuchimikado's home which apparently had come off generally unscathed.

I stared out into the distant sky atop a noisy rumbling tank filled with girls and with a trio of boys on the engine deck.

Somehow, I felt as if I remembered something like this before but on a different vehicle and in different circumstances. More dire ones to be exact.

Once again, I dismissed them as dreams.

But if it was from a dream, why did it feel so familiar?

And more importantly, why did they, those words, I thought earlier, 'Negated' and 'Broken' feel so... Right.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Haimura~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dark.

Pitch black.

My breathing echoed as if in a cave, spreading like wildfire before fading away into the shadows.

Where am I?

Probably a dream.

'Hello boy'

The voice sounded feminine. It came from all directions at once. It didn't echo either.

"Yes?"

'Interesting'

* * *

My eyes shot open.

A warm brown ceiling welcomed me. Several voices leaked underneath a shut door. Several smallish candles kept the room lit. The sky outside the broken widow was pitch black. It was probably still night.

I turned my head, still groggy from sleep and somewhat spooked by that awkward dream.

Almost immediately, I recognised he room as Tschimikado's.

Why am I here though?

This time, I remembered fading off near my home, expecting to wake up cold and stiff.

Actually, how am I here?

Gathering my will, I managed to force myself up, much the annoyance of my screaming joints. The bed creaked under the change of pressure.

I took a sniff from my clothes. The scent unlocked vague memories of being carried onto a tank.

A loud laugh came from the living room. I instantly recognised it was Tsuchimikado's.

That explains how I got here.

The short distance between the bed and the door was covered in three large strides.

The door creaked open.

As expected, it was dark. The city's electricity grid hadn't been fully repaired so some of the more damaged buildings, especially high-rise ones like these, had little to no power.

Eight or so candles lit the living room where a bunch of kids huddled together, deep in conversation.

Faces like Touma, Tsuchimikado, Maika and the sleeping were easily accepted into my head. Uomi's however, took my brain more time to process.

Said girl with half-lidded eyes smiled charmingly at me. "Hello, Kano-kun. How are you?"

"I'm fine, thank you... More importantly, how are you here?"

I winced at her reaction to my sharp words. I hadn't meant for it to come out like that.

Even Touma glared at me.

This is going to be a rough morning.

"Ah... I was..."

"She was visiting." Tsumichimikado finished for the flustered girl. His voice had a certain edge to it too.

I had no idea how to respond now. Making one of my closest friends hurt was one thing, making another two angry? I was pretty much done for.

"Seriously man? You say that to one person who worried the most for you while taking care of Fukiyose there," Touma pointed at his obviously ill girlfriend, "and even now, she isn't even angry!"

My eyes shot back to Uomi who seemed to be on the verge of tears, a halfway point between relief and heartbreak.

Regret pulled at my conscience. Moreso with Maika silently shaking her head in disapproval.

"Well..."

The blonde boy got up, a grin lighting up his face. "Help me get Fukiyose into the room now that Kano-dono has some catch-up time with Uomi."

Both of them seemed to have a further conversation by some other means. Most likely telepathy.

Not more than ten seconds later, I was alone, on the floor sitting opposite Uomi.

"Uhh... I'm sorry Uomi..." I started.

Her teary eyes glared at me. A small bruise swelled on her left arm. Three bandages wrapped around her neck and left wrist. Her hair was wiry, dirty from lack of care.

Then my vision spun to the right. A fiery sensation welling up on my cheek.

"Do you have any idea how worried I was?!"

I sat there, listening to her blow her frustrations at me. No matter what happened, she was a friend who was just like family. Being rude was not an option.

"I checked that stupid information desk every day, waiting in a two hour long line just to check if you were okay and that is how you greet me?!"

Tears ran down her soft cheeks. The same girl who I played with for years as a child, the same girl who left without a word because of a misunderstanding, the same girl who received my anger and never shot back.

How stupid can you be Haimura?

"I heard you and Yuriko are a thing now..."

The sudden change of topic took my by surprise. She seemed to be happy with my flustered reaction as it proved that I was paying attention to her.

"Is it true?"

I tore my gaze from her inquisitive eyes. No way could I look at Uomi in the eye. A part of me already knew that her affections for me were still there.

Uomi smiled. "I knew it."

As if my mouth were sewn shut, I could only nod in confirmation.

Shame.

Regret.

Guilt.

And a little love.

"Uomi," I tried to explain, "I don't hate you and I really am sorry about my rudeness but..."

I took a deep breath. Uomi hadn't interrupted me. Which was good. Though the same couldn't be said about her sad expression.

"I still love you, but as a friend. The same way I love Touma, Tsuchi and Fukiyose. You guys are like family to me."

Faint strips of orange light flickered on her pale skin.

"Family huh."

I reached over and pulled her into a hug. We sat in silence. Rejecting someone hurt much, much more than I expected. Especially since that someone was a childhood friend.

"I'm sorry for making you worry. I'm sorry for falling for someone else. I'm sorry I-"

A finger was placed on my lips.

"Mm... You don't need to say sorry." Uomi shook her head and smiled. "I understand."

Damn am I lucky to have such good friends.

"Just... Can I cry on your shoulder for a bit?"

"Mm."

"Thank you, Kano-kun. Thank you."

* * *

The days passed quickly. And repairs were even faster. In just two days, the electrical grid had been repaired. Water pipes were done a day later. In that time, almost all the roads in Tokyo had been fully repaired. If it were any other country, the feat would be completely unheard of but this.

This was Japan.

We had Academy City.

Five Overs hovered over the city, raising fallen buildings, giving way for construction crews to rebuild. Their massive UFO-shaped superstructures levitated high in the air. Smaller machines, also Five Overs but repurposed into construction mechs spread out from under them like bees from a hive.

Another week and shops had started to reopen. Grocery shopping had returned. Maika in particular was especially happy with the development though slightly annoyed that she could only use limited amounts of gas for cooking.

We had to deal with eating old biscuits for the next few days. At least there was water.

In total, it barely took a month for the city to recover. Yes, there were quite a number of missing spaces in the cityscape but relatively speaking, life had almost returned to normal for many people.

Except the fact that most people had to camp at a friend's home for a while.

Three days before Christmas, school of all things reopened.

Uomi was unable to return to her home due to the damaged railways so she decided to attend school with us. It seemed like her parents were keen on moving into Tokyo now that houses were being replaced more cheaply.

It probably won't be long before life truly returned to normal with the addition of a new friend.

Snow crunched underneath my tattered shoes. The same shoes that had walked on Academy City ground.

Touma and his future wife took the lead with Maika and her sis-con brother close behind. Uomi had taken to the embarrassing habit of holding onto my arm. A habit picked up when we were six.

She was wearing some cheap clothes we picked up from a random shop nearby our temporary hotel called 'Tsuchimikado's home'. Dressed in a simple oversized jacket and jeans, she looked like the ideal girlfriend.

Tsuchimikado on the other hand continued to wear his Hawaiian shirt despite the cold while Touma struggled to keep warm with his torn jacket.

I enjoyed the peace. The normalcy of life which had been missing for so long.

The noisy bunch ahead of me grew silent. A chill ran down my spine.

Two pairs of burning spots formed on my back.

"HAIMURA!"

Now that I think about it, I hadn't seen Yuriko for a good three weeks. Trying to repair damages to our current home took up a lot of time and energy.

The same could be said for a certain pink haired girl.

A pair of arms wrapped themselves around my free arm. They pulled painfully, threatening to tear off my jacket sleeve.

Pink assaulted me.

"Who is that? Another girl? What have you been doing this past month onii-chan?!"

"Onii-chan?!"

Akemi nodded. She held a birth certificate which looked suspiciously like Dark Matter.

I only managed to read, 'Name: Akemi Ikezawa' before it was torn away from my vision. Hand met face as I remembered our conversation those weeks ago at the hospital. School was about to get a whole not noisier.

"I'm your sister now and you!" She pointed accusingly at Uomi. "Unhand him!"

By now, Uomi had regained her senses. Which admittedly was a bad thing for me.

"No!"

"What no?!"

"Kano-kyun is my childhood friend since we were three! Who are you to suddenly barge in like that?!",

"K-k-kyun?! What kind of nickname is that?! Haimura! What have you done!"

I made out four quickly disappearing silhouettes in peripheral vision. My backup was gone.

"Anyway, get away from him you pink-haired skank!"

"Skank!?"

Blue lights started to glow dangerously on Akemi's back. If they were bright enough to shine through the thick jacket she wore, she was on the verge of exploding into armor.

This might get bad.

"Akemi."

A very unwelcome voice cut through the argument and before I knew it, the entire street was silent. Other pedestrians had fled from the intense murderous intent in that one word.

I was saved.

By the one who could kill me with a single word.

Only a soft metallic tapping was audible.

Both girls loosened their grip on me. One out of unadulterated fear and the other out of respect for her rival in love.

Slowly, I turned, each millisecond felt like an eternity. An eternity I would spend in hell, awaiting my death at the hands of the demon Yuriko.

Red eyes stared into mine.

Wearing a white jacket and equally white pants. Yuriko was almost completely white.

I stared blankly at her as she closed the distance between us, eventually stopping centimetres away from me.

"Fuck you."

"Wha-"

I was silenced by a crutch painfully impacting my ankle.

"Don't 'wha' me you prick. Disappearing like that after that..." Yuriko blushed. Admittedly, so did I. We didn't need to explain what we were both thinking. "You disappear for a good month and now I see you holding hands with another girl?"

Opening my mouth to speak was met only with a cold smack to the back of my knee, sending me into a kneeling position.

Faint shuffling told me that Akemi had ushered Uomi away, giving us much needed privacy.

"You little prick! HOW MUCH DO YOU THINK I PANICKED HUH!?" Each word was punctuated with a slap to my face. This hurt so many times more than what Uomi did to me. "WHAT THE FUCK WERE YOU THINKING HUH?!"

Suddenly, she collapsed into me. My instincts took over and I pulled her to me. Her outer shell had been broken. Judging from the atmosphere, she had only allowed herself to reveal her vulnerable side the moment all passersby had left.

What a tsundere.

"I... missed you... I missed you so fucking much you idiot... Do you know how worried I was when I couldn't find you?" Yuriko's commanding voice had dropped to a whisper. Small tears dripped down her cheeks, melting the snow on the ground. "I wouldn't have functioned if you left like one-chan."

Regret pulled at my core. In all my worry for myself, I completely forgot that I had someone else thinking about me, caring for me.

How could I have been so selfish?

It was one thing to disappear but leave a message behind. What I did was literally what Uomi had done; disappear without a trace.

And in my case, I had no excuse. At least Uomi had left a note though it was lost before I found it.

I had very nearly lost what I found with Yuriko that night.

Love.

"I'm sorry Yuriko."

"You better be you fuck." She mumbled into my chest. I felt a wetness in the region. Did she really cry that much?

"I'd be dead if I weren't."

"Heh... True. Promise me you won't leave me like that again."

I released her for a moment to lose myself in her teary ruby colored eyes. The same eyes I was attracted to the first time I met her.

This renunion could have been better but considering the circumstances, it was more than I could have hoped for.

"I hope you forgive me."

That was all I said before leaning in to kiss her.

* * *

A.N.

And that was this long delayed chapter. Like what Haimura said to Yuriko, I hope you forgive me. School and writing two stories at once without time is torture but I will never drop a story!

Thank you to all of you who followed and favved and still read this story. You guys are amazing.

Yes, I omitted the festival. I wanted this chap to be about how Touma saved Haimura and a little foreshadowing for a future arc? This chap is also about hoe close Yuriko and Haimura are. Notice how she isn't even angry and is simply disappointed and sad? Yeah. They've gone past just a simple relationship. Okay she was very angry but that's just her tsun tsun-ness we all love.

Next one should be school again which is what this story was supposed to be afterall. See you in the next one.

Reviews and stuff would be nice. Input and flames for my lateness will be accepted. I hoped you liked the lemon one-shot too. Another one may come up. ToumaXFukiyose or anything? Anyone? Just say it. I kinda feel like writing one.

Another thing, if you have the time, look up my other story in fictionpress. my username is Eliya. Hope to see you there!


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